Timeline of Events and Documents
With Links to Translations and Original Documents
This is a collaborative project to document, in broad historical context, the development and impact of the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. To facilitate navigation, the following threads, or historical topics, are identified by a distinctive icon: 
Click on the right side of the icon to advance to the next entry in the thread; click on the left side to go backwards in the thread. To get started, click on either side of any icon below.
Thread 1: Hitler, Goebbels and the Nazi propaganda theme of Jewish-Communist worldwide conspiracy
The central role of the Jewish-Communist myth as Nazi rationale for war and Holocaust is well known; less known is the similar role the myth played in the Nazi rationale for overthrowing the Weimar Republic in 1922-1923, for stripping Jewish Germans of citizenship in 1935, and for helping Franco overthrow the elected government of Spain beginning in 1936.
Thread 2: Development of the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory in Germany, 1914-1919
By governmental, military and journalistic elites in northern Germany, including Count Reventlow, the Deutsche Tagezeitung, the Alldeutscher Verband, and the Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund; and by fringe figures in Bavaria such as Paul Bang of the DNVP and proto-Nazis Dietrich Eckart and Alfred Rosenberg.
Thread 3: Development of the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory in Munich-based Catholic publications, 1917-1920
Contrary to some historians who present the acceptance of the Judeo-Bolshevik myth among Bavarian Catholics as natural and all but inevitable, influential voices in Catholic Bavaria, including the leading Munich-based Catholic journals, publicly explained Communism and the 1917 Russian Bolshevik Revolution in terms other than Jewish influence or control, until a turning point in spring 1920.
Thread 4: Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory in Hungary, 1919-1938
The widely publicized mass murders and persecutions of Jews in Hungary and Poland in 1919-1920 made the power and impact of the Jewish-Communist myth manifest internationally at the formational time of the Nazi Party in Munich.
Thread 5: Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory in Poland, 1919-1930s
Names in this thread include Achille Ratti, Vatican Nuncio to Poland who later becomes Pope Pius XI, and the Polish Bishops Conference, in 1919-1920; and Cardinal-Archbishop Hlond and L’Osservatore Romano in the mid-1930s.
Thread 6: The Vatican’s stance on the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory, 1918-1945
As manifested publicly by the Vatican in its daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano and by the Vatican-supervised journal La Civiltà Cattolica, and as stated privately in reports by high-ranking Vatican officials. The stance is best summarized in the title of a Munich Archdiocesan newspaper article on May 2, 1920: „Nicht Judenhass, sondern Christenschutz“ [Not Jew-hatred, but Christian-defense]. The standard historical reference on “The Vatican’s Stance on National Socialism as Reflected in L’Osservatore Romano” by Sandmann overlooks most of the articles in this thread.
Thread 7: Jewish-Masonic world conspiracy, predecessor to the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory
A study in similar modus operandi of conspiracy theorists: (1) Highlight a handful of Jews who are high-ranking Masons (or Communists). (2) Construct an elaborate theory of Jewry controlling Masonry (or Communism) worldwide. (3) Arouse fear and hatred toward the Jewish-Masonic (or Jewish-Communist) threat to the homeland, Western Civilization, Christianity, and/or the Catholic Church.
Thread 8: 19th century writings reflected in the first editions of the Protocols in early 20th century Russia
Parts of the Protocols draw upon works of Maurice Joly and Hermann Goedsche, which are well known to historians of the Protocols; the pervasive Protocols theme of worldwide Jewish control of the Masonic movement in order to destroy and dominate Christian peoples draws more upon the lesser known work of Gabriel Jogand-Pagès (a/k/a Leo Taxil) under the pseudonym Docteur Bataille.
Thread 9: Promoting the Protocols in the United States, 1918-1920
Czarist Russian intelligence officer Boris Brasol, operating in Washington DC and New York, creates the first known English language excerpts from the Protocols, when he places quotations from the Protocols at the beginning and end of his four-page concoction entitled “Bolshevism and Judaism,” which he sends to the head of US Army Intelligence, Brig. Gen. Marlborough Churchill, in November 1918; Brasol’s efforts to disseminate the Protocols in the US come to public fruition in spring 1920 via Henry Ford and his Dearborn Independent newspaper.
Thread 10: Early promotions of Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory and the Protocols in the United Kingdom
Brasol's false assertions against Jewish financiers along with his quotations from the Protocols reach England in fall 1919, but are blocked from publication by the head of MI5/MI6 under advice from the US Government; in early 1920 Jewish-Communism assertions receive public support from Winston Churchill (Feb. 8, 1920), and later that year the Protocols are published in English by the King's own publishers, Eyre & Spottiswoode.
Thread 11: Transnational network promoting the Protocols and the Jewish-Communist myth, 1918-1921
Dissemination of the Protocols in the aftermath of World War I is promoted by White Russian exiles in the US (Boris Brasol) and Bavaria (Alfred Rosenberg, Max von Scheubner-Richter, Fedor Vinberg, Piotr Shabelskii-Bork, Ivan Poltavets-Ostranitsa and others), as well as by ex-Vatican official Umberto Benigni and his international network.
Thread 12: Fr. Coughlin promoting the Jewish-Communist myth and Protocols in the US, 1938-1942
After emphasizing populist themes during the 1920s and most of the 1930s, including many attacks on financiers both Jewish and non-Jewish, Fr. Coughlin begins in 1938 to publish the Protocols serially; then, in November 1938, ten days after the nationwide pogrom of Kristallnacht in Germany, Coughlin begins to focus extensive attacks on the supposed Jewish-capitalist-Communist world conspiracy, taking material directly from Brasol's multi-page falsification as published in La Documentation Catholique in March 1920.
Thread 13: Promoting the Protocols in Germany, 1919-1929[forthcoming]
Thread 14: Promoting the Protocols in France, 1919-1929
Thread 15: Promoting the Protocols in Italy, 1919-1929
Thread 16: Jewish-Communist myth and Protocols in Argentina, 1933-1945
Thread 17: Promoting the Protocols today
Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License by Stephen H. Galebach. Non-commercial reproduction, use and sharing of the Timeline and linked Translations and Notes are permitted, provided attribution is given to the author and a hyperlink is made to this URL. All translations, unless otherwise indicated, are by Stephen Galebach, who is also responsible for copyright law analysis with respect to the documents.
1800s
Circa 1800 Napoleon’s armies set Jews free throughout Europe from ghettoes and legal discrimination, including in the Papal States.
1815 Following the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna re-establishes European monarchies; in the restored Papal States, Pope Pius VII re-institutes the ghettoes of Rome, Bologna and several other cities.
1819 The Hep-Hep riots in Germany, a series of pogroms in Würzburg and then cities in the Rhineland and the north, kill or injure many Jews and loot their property.
June 16, 1846 Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti is elected Pope and takes the name Pius IX; his 31-year Pontificate, the longest on record, witnesses the fall of the Papal States and the forming of the nation of Italy.
1848-1849 A popular movement establishes a democratic republican form of government in Rome and Pope Pius IX flees to Gaeta Castle near Naples.
1850 French troops overpower Roman Republic forces and institute military rule on behalf of the Pope; the following year Pius XI returns to Rome.
1858 Edgardo Mortara, a six year old Jewish boy, is seized from his family home in Bologna by Papal States police and taken to Rome, based on the statement by a domestic servant that she secretly baptized the boy several years earlier when he was sick and, she feared, in danger of death.
Pope Pius IX refuses to return Edgardo to his family; the resulting worldwide outrage undermines Austrian and French commitments to uphold Pius IX’s temporal rule.
1859 Austrian troops leave Bologna and the Romagna region of the Papal States, and democratic forces immediately rise up and form new governing bodies there.
1869 The Vatican-supervised journal La Civiltà Cattolica [Catholic Civilization] equates Judaism and the Masonic movement, describing a “vast conspiracy” by the “Jewish-Masonic sect” to attack the Catholic Church, destroy its religious orders, and steal their property. English translation of article
Historian Lebovitch Dahl has traced Civiltà Cattolica’s Jewish-Masonic conspiracy theorizing back to the journal’s first volume of 1850 and its four-part series entitled “The Hebrew of Verona.” (see Bibliography)Also, in 1869, Jewish-Masonic conspiracy theory appears as a central theme in a book by French writer Roger Gougenot des Mousseaux, who makes dozens of references to prominent Jewish French lawyer Adolphe Crémieux, the head of the Alliance Israélite Universelle and the French Masonic order, in order to insinuate that Jewry controls Masonry worldwide.
Later, in 1918-1920 United States, Bavaria, France and elsewhere, the same tactic is used to insinuate that Jewry controls Communism worldwide, by identifying Jewish Communist leaders by name and generalizing to a universal identification of Judaism and Communism.Excerpts in French original and English translation from Gougenot’s Le Juif: le judaïsme et la judaïsation des peuples chrétiens (Paris: Plons, 1869)
In 1870, Gougenot’s book receives an enthusiastic review from Civiltà Cattolica.
Sept. 20, 1870 Italian troops breach the walls of Rome, and Papal Zouaves surrender the city to the forces of Italian unification.
This marks the end of the Papal States as an entity under the sovereign rule of the Pope.The “Roman Question,” the competing claims of the Pope and the nation of Italy to sovereignty over Rome, persists for many decades until resolved in 1929 by Pope Pius XI and Mussolini.
Jan. 1, 1871 Germany is united under Kaiser Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, and Jews receive rights of citizenship throughout the new German Reich [Empire].
1871 Jewish-Masonic conspiracy theory is advanced in Germany by the Jesuit priest August Rohling in his book Der Talmudjude [the Talmud-Jew], which quickly sells multiple editions and is translated into French, Polish, Dutch, Hungarian and other languages.
English translation and German original of excerpt, including generalizing from the example of Adolphe Crémieux to a theory of universal control of Masonry by Jewry.
1878 Kaiser Wilhelm I’s Lutheran chaplain Adolf Stoecker founds the Christlichsoziale Arbeiterpartei [Christian-Social Workers Party], one of several German antisemitic parties that experience limited electoral success in the late 1800s and then decline by the time of World War I.
The name and concept of Christlichsoziale, combining antisemitic propaganda with social programs for workers, are later adopted by Karl Lueger’s political movement in Austria.
Feb. 20, 1878 Vincenzo Pecci, Bishop of Perugia, Italy, is elected Pope Leo XIII and enters upon a 25-year pontificate.
1880s
1880 E.N. Chabouty, a French Catholic priest, publishes a book devoted to Jewish-Masonic conspiracy theory: Franc-maçons et Juifs: Sixième âge de l’église d'après l’apocalypse [Freemasons and Jews: Sixth Age of the Church According to the Book of Revelation] (Paris: Société générale de librairie catholique, 1880).
Dec. 1880 La Civiltà Cattolica commences a series of polemical articles against the Jewish people.
These antisemitic articles extend over a period of more than three years, appearing in approximately half the issues of this journal during that time.Civiltà Cattolica was (and still is) a twice-monthly journal published by a select community of Jesuit priests in Rome, with each issue reviewed by the Vatican Secretary of State prior to publication.
Jan. 1, 1881 Civiltà Cattolica’s first in a series of lengthy antisemitic articles demands special laws to exclude Jews from citizenship and profitable occupations, and to counteract alleged Jewish financial and economic influence.
The article’s main points are that Jews remain foreigners in whatever country they live; that Judaism controls much of Freemasonry; that Jews universally inspire people to hate them; that Jewry should be understood as a race more than a religion; and that antisemitism should be pursued in a “just” and rational manner, rather than a passionate and vengeful manner, for “social defense” of Christian civilization.
The main points of the article were, or became, a commonplace in antisemitic propaganda; they appear, for instance, in Hitler’s first known antisemitic writing, his letter to Gemlich in September 1919.
1881 Pogroms, violent attacks and riots against Jews, break out in Russia, the home of approximately half the world’s Jewish population, following the assassination of Czar Alexander II.
1882 The First Aliya begins.
Thousands of Jews emigrate from Russia and Romania to Palestine, with the foundation of settlements such as Rishon LeZion (“First in Zion”) southeast of Jaffa and Rosh Pina (“Cornerstone”) northwest of the Sea of Galilee.Also, more than one million Jews emigrate from Russia to the United States by the end of the 19th century. Tens of thousands emigrate during this time to Argentina, which sends immigration agents to Warsaw and Odessa to recruit Jewish immigrants to the largely unpopulated country. Baron Maurice de Hirsch (from a Jewish Bavarian family living in France, having been ennobled by the King of Bavaria) finances Jewish immigration to Argentina.
Apr. 20, 1884 Pope Leo XIII issues an encyclical entitled Humanum Genus, dedicated to condemning the Freemasons and exhorting Catholics to oppose them as forces of the “kingdom of Satan” arrayed against “the kingdom of God on earth,” the Catholic Church.
This encyclical does not posit any connection between Freemasons and Jews; nor did any of Leo XIII’s encyclicals or other public statements contain any explicit denigration of Jews.
1890s
May 15, 1891 Pope Leo XIII issues his most famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum, on capital and labor, which continues to be central to Catholic social teaching through the 20th century.
English version at Vatican website
1894 Gabriel Jogand-Pagès, French anti-Masonic writer, under the pseudonym “Dr. Bataille,” popularizes the notion that secret assemblies of Jews control the Masonic movement.
English translation of French originalCiviltà Cattolica later praises the works of Dr. Bataille and other anti-Masonic works by Jogand-Pagès under his various pseudonyms.
When Jogand-Pagès discloses in 1897 that his writings have been a gigantic hoax, Civiltà Cattolica condemns him but states that much of what he wrote is nonetheless true.
Dec. 22, 1894 Jewish French General Staff officer Alfred Dreyfus is falsely convicted by court-martial of espionage and treason, in the midst of an antisemitic propaganda campaign against him.
1896 Theodor Herzl publishes the book that launches the Zionist movement, Der Judenstaat [The Jewish State].
Herzl, having seen the impact of the Dreyfus Affair as a journalist posted to France, argues that despite best efforts and intentions, Jews are unable to gain acceptance and toleration in any country.Herzl’s book proposes a solution: that Jews establish or re-establish their own homeland. He also proposes that the Holy Places of Christianity and Islam, including the city of Jerusalem, be internationalized and not be part of the Jewish State.
Excerpts in English translation at Jewish Virtual Library
Additional versions of Der Judenstaat available online at Gutenberg
Also in 1896, antisemitic agitation surges in France in reaction against the pro-Dreyfusard movement, and in Austria with the electoral victory of Karl Lueger’s Christian Social Party, also known as the Antisemitic Party.
Aug. 15, 1896 Civiltà Cattolica rejoices in the “victory of the antisemites in the capital” of Austria, stating “the triumph of Dr. Lueger was such as to give the coup de grace to the old mafia of Jewish capitalism, allied in Vienna with Masonic liberalism.”
English translation
Sep. 19, 1896 Civiltà Cattolica praises the works of Jogand-Pagès, Leo Taxil, Dr. Bataille, Diana Vaughan and advertises the upcoming Anti-Masonic Congress.
English translation
Sep. 26-30, 1896 The First International Anti-Masonic Congress is held in the city of Trent, the site of the Council of Trent during the Counter-Reformation in the 16th century.
Jogand-Pagès (Leo Taxil) is invited as a keynote speaker.Translation of Civiltà Cattolica’s Sept. 19, 1896 advertisement for the Congress
Apr. 19, 1897 Jogand-Pagès discloses that his popular anti-Masonic works have been a hoax, at a widely-attended press conference at the Geographical Society in Paris on the Boulevard St. Germain; his hoax includes all the works under the pseudonyms of Leo Taxil, Dr. Bataille, and Diana Vaughan.
May 1, 1897 Civiltà Cattolica reports at length on the Jogand-Pagès-Leo-Taxil hoax.
English summary
May 1, 1897 Civiltà Cattolica takes a stance against Zionism, arguing that a rebuilt Jerusalem at the center of a reconstituted nation of Israel would be unacceptable because it would contradict New Testament prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem.
English translation
May 15, 1897 Civiltà Cattolica, in a four-page article about the hoax conducted by Jogand-Pagès, states in conclusion that much of what he wrote is nonetheless true.
English excerpt
Aug. 29-31, 1897 The First Zionist Congress is held in Basel, Switzerland, with Theodor Herzl presiding.
Jan. 13, 1898 Emile Zola publishes "J’Accuse" in L’Aurore in France, leading eventually to the unraveling of the fraudulent treason case against Major Alfred Dreyfus.
Sept. 16, 1899 Civiltà Cattolica writes this about the Third Zionist Congress, noting the Zionists are not claiming Jerusalem:
“What sort of Zionism is this, that from the start renounces Jerusalem and the ancient kingdom of Palestine? Does this not prove that they are betraying themselves and confessing that their intentions were utopian? Why not then completely give up the name Zionism? A race of murderers of God, even if supported by all the anti-Christian sects, feels itself beaten before the fight even begins, beaten by Jesus.”Source: Minerbi, p.97, quoting in English translation from the Italian original.
Early 1900s
July 20, 1903 Pope Leo XIII dies.
Aug. 4, 1903 Giuseppe Sarto, Patriarch of Venice, becomes Pope Pius X (1903-1914).
1903 First edition of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is published in Russia by Sergei Nilus.
Jan. 25, 1904 Theodor Herzl has an audience in Rome with Pope Pius X, who says the Catholic Church cannot support the movement of Jews to Jerusalem. The audience occurs on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (Saul of Tarsus).
February 1908 Hitler moves at age 18 from his family home in Linz, Austria to Vienna, where he lives until moving to Munich in 1913.
Contrary to Hitler’s later assertions in Mein Kampf, he shows no evidence of being an antisemite during his time in Vienna.Source: Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris (1998), pp. 60-64; Brigitte Hamann, Hitler’s Vienna (1999), pp. 347-359.
1912
Jan. 12, 1912 In the last German election before World War One for delegates to the Reichstag, antisemites fare poorly.
Antisemitic parties, declining from their peak two decades earlier, elected only 10 delegates to the 400-seat Reichstag.Antisemitic parties elected no delegates from Bavaria.
The largest number of seats overall were won by the Social Democrats, with the Catholic Center Party second.
Most parts of Bavaria voted Center Party, but in Munich the Social Democrats out-polled the Center.
1913
May 1913 Hitler receives an inheritance from his long-deceased father after reaching the age of 24, and moves from Vienna to Munich. Kershaw (1998), p.68.
Aug. 9, 1913 Rome newspaper Corriere d'Italia features Jewish-Masonic conspiracy theory, claiming that Freemasonry is a Jewish organization seeking to destroy Italy. Source: Issue 8/219 (Aug. 9, 1913), p.6, cited by Arpaia (2015), p.244.
Such propaganda could easily appear in Corriere d'Italia, despite its mainstream reputation, as a result of its association with two figures in the early 1910s who were later central to the dissemination of Jewish-Freemason-Communist conspiracy theory internationally and in Bavaria:Msgr. Umberto Benigni, former Vatican official heading the international spy network known as La Sapinière and Sodalitium Pianum. Cf. Nina Valbousquet, Les réseaux transnationaux de l’antisémitisme catholique [International Networks of Catholic Antisemitism]: France, Italie, 1914-1934, Doctoral Thesis, Paris Sciences Po 2016, pp. 175, 414, 674.Fr. Bernhard (a/k/a Don Bernardo) Stempfle, who began antisemitic propagandizing in Munich shortly after returning to his home city in 1917, following years of journalistic activity in Rome. Cf. Nachlass Stempfle, Folders 1-9, Bavarian Hauptstaatsarchiv, Munich.
Dec. 4, 1913 German military forces’ abuse of Alsatians during 1913 leads to the first-ever no confidence vote in the German Reichstag; Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg remains in office despite losing the vote.
1914
June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
July 28, 1914 World War One begins with Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war on Serbia.
Additional declarations of war follow, resulting in First World War between the “Central Powers,” Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the “Triple Entente,” France, Great Britain and Russia.
August 1914 Hitler volunteers for the Bavarian army. Kershaw (1998), p.90.
Aug. 17, 1914 The “Deutsche Komittee zur Befreiung der russischen Juden” [German Committee for the Liberation of the Russian Jews] is announced as part of a broader German plan to incite Jews in Russia to support revolutionary uprisings against the Czar.
Source: Friedländer (1971), p. 31.The later conspicuous support of a small proportion of Russian Jews such as Trotsky and Radek for revolution in Russia will be cited in Germany and elsewhere to claim that Bolshevism was a Jewish plot.
Aug. 20, 1914 Pope Pius X dies.
Sep. 3, 1914 Giacomo della Chiesa, Archbishop of Bologna, becomes Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922).
1915
Apr. 16, 1915 Italy enters World War One on the side of the Triple Entente of France, Britain and Russia, against the Central Powers, who now include the Ottoman Empire as well as Germany and Austria-Hungary.
As a condition for entering the war, Italy secures the commitment of the Allies that the Vatican will be excluded from any peace conference.
Oct. 24, 1915 Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner for Egypt, writes Hussein bin Ali, the Sherif of Mecca, that England will support the independence of the Arabs against the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
This leads to the Arab Revolt of 1916, famous for its association with British officer T.E. Lawrence.
1916
Feb. 9, 1916 Vatican responds to a request from leaders of the American Jewish Committee asking the Pope to mediate for their confrères in Europe who are suffering travails in regions ravaged by World War One, especially the regions of the Eastern Front.
The Pope declines to address the specifics of their request but affirms, via the Vatican Secretary of State, general principles of brotherly love and natural law “toward the children of Israel as toward all men.”Translation of response published three months later in Civiltà Cattolica
Italian original with side-by-side English translation: page 358 and page 359
May 16, 1916 Sykes-Picot secret agreement is reached between Britain, France and Russia, to allocate spheres of influence in the event the Allies defeat and divide up the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
France is to have Lebanon, Syria and Northern Iraq; Russia is to have the Istanbul region; and Britain is to have Palestine, southern Iraq and Jordan, with the parties to consider placing the Holy Land under the jurisdiction of an international commission.
Nov. 1916 Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, Vatican Secretary of State, gives detailed instructions to the new Vatican Nuncio to Bavaria, including instructions to develop a strong Catholic press in Bavaria:
“... make every effort to support and propagate the good press.”Source: Hubert Wolf, Pope and Devil (2010), pp. 20-21, quoting in translation from “Instructions for Mons. Giuseppe Aversa, Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria,” Nov. 1916, Vatican Secret Archives, Munich Nunciature, vol. 257, fasc. 10, fol. 1-108.
1917
Mar. 4, 1917 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper runs a two-page article with characteristic criticisms of Social Democrat Party and its policies, without attacks on Jews.
Mar. 8-12, 1917 (Gregorian Calendar) February Revolution (per Julian Calendar used in Russia) takes place in Russia. Czar Nicholas II abdicates, resulting in a republic with Alexander Kerensky as the key figure.
Apr. 6, 1917 United States declares war on Germany and enters World War One.
Apr. 9, 1917 German Government transports Lenin, Karl Radek and fellow Bolsheviks from their exile in Zurich across Germany in a sealed train car, then assists them to cross the Baltic Sea to Sweden, and further assists their mostly successful passage through Finland to St. Petersburg.
A central figure in arranging German Foreign Office approvals is Center Party politician Matthias Erzberger. During spring and summer 1917 Germany enables approximately 400 Communist revolutionaries to get to Russia. Sources: Epstein (1959); Hahlweg (1957).In subsequent years antisemites in Germany attack Bolshevism as a Jewish plot and do not discuss the ways in which it was a German plot.
Apr. 12, 1917 Cardinal Francis von Bettinger, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, dies.
Front page tribute to him in the Munich Archdiocesan newspaperSeveral days later the Vatican Nuncio to Bavaria, Archbishop Joseph Aversa, dies.
Apr. 27, 1917 Telegram from leading Russian Jews to Jacob Schiff, Justice Louis Brandeis, Prof Gottheil, Oscar Straus, Rabbi Stephen Wise, Louis Marshall and Henry Morgenthau, sent via U.S. State Department, from U.S. Ambassador Francis in St. Petersburg to U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing, requesting assistance to obtain financing for the new democratic Kerensky government of Russia.
Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), State Dept. Records Relating to Internal Affairs of Russia and the Soviet Union (microfilm), Roll 117, M 316, State Dept. Decimal File 861.51.The Jewish American leaders coordinate with Lansing and follow his instructions not to provide the requested funding.
Boris Brasol, a White Russian propagandist and former Czarist intelligence officer in the US, later twists the facts to accuse Schiff, Brandeis, Marshall, Straus and Wise, as well as the Warburg brothers and Rabbi Judah Magnes, of supporting Russian Bolshevism and financing Trotsky.
Secretary of State Lansing learns of Brasol’s false accusations against leading Jewish Americans in October-November 1919; he advises the British Government privately through diplomatic channels against allowing the Morning Post to publish Brasol’s “Bolshevism and Judaism” falsification, but US authorities do not publicly expose or denounce Brasol’s fraud when it is later published in France and Bavaria as “an official American report.”
Apr. 29, 1917 General Secretary of the World Zionist Congress, Nahum Sokolow, meets at the Vatican with Eugenio Pacelli, who was Secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, reporting to Vatican Secretary of State Gasparri.
Sokolow reports that Pacelli shows him extraordinary courtesy and tells him it is essential that the Zionists define what is meant by the Holy Places, “for on this there are differences of view: some hold that they mean all the country, others - that they are only a few isolated sites. We must know in advance what you demand, in order to avoid conflicts and competition between us...”Source: Minerbi, p.108, quoting in translation from Sokolow’s report to Chaim Weizmann, Apr. 29, 1917.
Pacelli then arranges an audience for Sokolow with Pope Benedict XV. Source: Rychlak, Hitler, p.26.
Apr. 29, 1917 Count Ernst von Reventlow, a major contributor on military and foreign affairs to the influential national Deutsche Zeitung, writes in that paper that “the influence of the Russian Jews in the revolutionary events of Russia now seems very great and growing.”
May 1, 1917 Sokolow meets with Cardinal Gasparri, who says the area the Vatican claims as Holy Places includes Jerusalem and “branching out from there to Bethlehem and Jericho, and we have demands regarding Tiberias, Nazareth, and possibly also Tabor-Nazareth.”
Minerbi, p.109, quoting in translation from Sokolow to Weizmann, May 1.
May 3, 1917 Chaim Weizmann receives a letter describing a recent meeting in Switzerland of influential Catholics, including Matthias Erzberger, to orchestrate Catholic pressure from major countries to oppose British control of Palestine and make it an internationalized territory under protection of the Pope.
Source: Minerbi, p.114.
May 4, 1917 Nahum Sokolow meets with Pope Benedict XV, who begins by recalling Rome’s destruction of Judea, which the Zionists now propose to rebuild, and concludes by repeating several times, “Yes, I think we shall be good neighbors.”
Minerbi, pp. 111-112, quoting in translation from memos of the meeting made by Sokolow.
May 10, 1917 Letter from Louis Marshall in New York to US Secretary of State Robert Lansing thanking him for meeting with Marshall, Morgenthau and Straus; reporting that the American Jewish leaders in question wish to follow advice from Lansing and defer to US policy in the matter of loans for Russia; and asking Lansing to communicate that decision by telegram to Boris Kamenka at the Don Asov Bank in St. Petersburg.
English original
May 11, 1917 Letter from Alvey A. Adee, Second Assistant Secretary of State, to Louis Marshall, enclosing copy of telegram sent by U.S. Secretary of State to Boris Kamenka in Russia.
English original
May 12, 1917 Telegram is sent from Lansing to Kamenka via U.S. Embassy in St. Petersburg, transmitting message from Schiff, Marshall, Straus, Morgenthau, Wise and Gottheil that they will encourage subscriptions to U.S. Liberty Loans to enable U.S. Government to make low interest loans to the Russian Government, rather than comply with Kamenka’s request.
English original
May 13, 1917 Eugenio Pacelli is consecrated Archbishop by Pope Benedict XV in preparation for his new assignment as Papal Nuncio to Bavaria, Germany.
Two-page article in Munich Archdiocesan newspaper about the consecration ceremonies in Rome, in German: page one; page twoAlso on May 13th, three shepherd children report seeing an appearance of Mary the Mother of Jesus near Fatima, Portugal.
May 26, 1917 Michael von Faulhaber, Bishop of Speyer, Germany, is announced as the new Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Bavaria, Germany.
May 27, 1917 Pacelli in Munich sends Cardinal Gasparri in Rome three detailed reports by German Catholic political figure Matthias Erzberger, in Italian, about German war goals, US intervention in the war, and the German press.
Over the next two years, Erzberger serves as a confidential informant and aide to Pacelli within the German Government, until a breach between the two in late July, 1919.Hundreds of documents by or about Erzberger appear in the German “Pacelli Edition” word-searchable database of Pacelli's Nunciature documents, maintained by the University of Münster, in cooperation with the German Historical Institute in Rome and the Vatican Secret Archive.
May 29, 1917 Archbishop Pacelli is received as Vatican Nuncio to Bavaria by Bavarian King Ludwig III in Munich.
Pacelli also reports this day to Rome that Erzberger has donated a “most beautiful” Benz automobile, “powerful and elegant,” to the Munich Nunciature. Pope Benedict XV responds two weeks later with a letter of thanks to Erzberger. Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document Nos. 9390, 9517.
June 6, 1917 Pacelli cables Gasparri that Erzberger says Kaiser Wilhelm II will welcome a visit by Pacelli and a peace initiative by the Pope.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 4491.
June 10, 1917 Erzberger reports to Pacelli that the Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary wants a peace initiative by Catholic authorities without delay, while Erzberger believes the best time for such action will be in September or October.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 362.
June 21, 1917 Erzberger reports to Pacelli that he has initiated an international Catholic appeal for peace, communicated by a Catholic association in Switzerland to the Catholic Bishops of many countries.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 364.
June 26-30, 1917 Archbishop Pacelli meets with German Reich Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg in Berlin, and with Kaiser Wilhelm at Kreuznach, to discuss a planned peace proposal from Pope Benedict XV.
English translation of report from Pacelli to Gasparri, Italian original and German summary online at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 366
July 8, 1917 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper runs a detailed article on Freemasonry, on the 200th anniversary of its founding; no mention of Jews.
German original
July 19, 1917 Matthias Erzberger of the Catholic Center Party succeeds in securing a majority vote in the German Reichstag for a Peace Resolution calling for peace terms without changes in boundaries or economic impositions.
Gasparri cables Pacelli: “In the event that the conditions of the peace note present difficulties, Your Excellency should work in any event to obtain conditions that would truly be acceptable to the other side; otherwise everything is useless... Make the Chancellor reflect ...”Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 802
July 22, 1917 Pacelli cables Gasparri that newspapers are attributing Erzberger's Peace Resolution to Vatican influence; he leaves it to Gasparri whether to publish a denial; and he assures Gasparri that the Munich Nunciature played no role in the matter.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 6052
July 27, 1917 Pacelli reports to Gasparri on his discussions with the new German Chancellor, Michaelis, about terms of the planned Papal peace proposal and the timing for announcing it.
English translation - Italian original and German summary at online Pacelli-Edition
Aug. 26, 1917 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper article expresses hopes for unification with Russian Orthodox Church in wake of the overthrow of the Czar.
German originalA follow-up article two weeks later expresses the additional hope that the long oppressed Catholic Church in Russia will now experience freedom.
Sept. 4, 1917 Nuncio Pacelli reports to Gasparri about a request from a Munich Rabbi for Vatican help to gain Italian authorization for a shipment of palm fronds in time for the Feast of Tabernacles.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translationTwo weeks later, Gasparri responds to Pacelli that “the Holy See obviously cannot support the request.” Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Ten days after that, Pacelli reports that the Munich Rabbi was “perfectly convinced” by the explanations he gave. Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Sept. 16, 1917 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper features a pastoral letter from Archbishop Faulhaber thanking Bavarian King Ludwig III for appointing him, and Pope Benedict XV for investing him, as Munich’s Archbishop.
German original of page one
Oct. 13, 1917 At Fatima, tens of thousands of Portuguese who have trudged through rain to the site of reported appearances of Mary the Mother of Jesus witness the “dance of the sun.”
Source: Lisbon newspaper O Seculo.
Oct. 17, 1917 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about his visit to a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany.
English translation
Oct. 22, 1917 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that former Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg and current Chancellor Hertling have complained to him about Matthias Erzberger, who has been unique among Center Party figures in serving the Nunciature and the Holy See.
English translation
Nov. 2, 1917 The Balfour Declaration is issued by the British Government:
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish People, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish Communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other Country.”
Nov. 7, 1917 Lenin, previously inserted into Russia by the German Government with the encouragement of Matthias Erzberger, successfully conducts the Bolshevik Revolution and takes over the Russian Government.
Source: Klaus Epstein, Matthias Erzberger and the Dilemma of German Democracy (Princeton, 1959), pp. 168-169 (Erzberger successfully lobbied the German Foreign Office and Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg to insert Lenin into Russia).
Nov. 15, 1917 Cardinal Gasparri asks Nuncio Pacelli to influence the German Government to intercede with the Turkish Ottoman authorities, allies of Germany, to protect the Holy Places and Jewish population of Jerusalem.
Source: Rychlak, Hitler, p.27, citing Hesemann (2008) and Lapide (1967).Cf. Gasparri to Pacelli, encrypted telegram, at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2389 - English translation
Nov. 23, 1917 The Times of London says the Bolsheviks “are adventurers of German-Jewish blood and in German pay.” Quoted in Kadish (1992), p.10.Nov. 30, 1917 Gasparri cables Pacelli to have the German Government intervene with the Ottoman Empire concerning new regulations affecting marriage for Catholics.
English translation
Dec. 6, 1917 Munich Nunciature forwards to Rome a petition from the Jewish Women’s Association of Berlin for Papal intervention against pogroms in Galicia and Poland.
English translation
Dec. 8, 1917 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that Baron Frankenstein and others claim that Erzberger is not representative of the entire Center Party; yet Pacelli and the Vatican remain dependent on Erzberger as their main source of information in Germany.
English translation
Dec. 9, 1917 Allied forces under British General Allenby capture Jerusalem.
Also on Dec. 9, the Munich Archdiocesan newspaper publishes a joint pastoral letter of the Bishops of Germany. German original, front page and second pageContinuation on front page of Dec. 16th edition and second page and third page
Dec. 14, 1917 Pacelli cables Gasparri that he has received assurances from the German Foreign Ministry that Turkish Authorities will protect the Jewish population and the Holy Places in Jerusalem and Palestine.
English translation
Dec. 16, 1917 Munich-based Catholic journal Historisch-politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland (HPB) focuses on the central question about the new Russian Revolution under Lenin, whether it will lead to peace or to continuation of the Russian war effort. “The War and Peace Question in Russia (Apropos of the Second Russian Revolution),” HPB 160:12 (1917), p. 756. German original: p. 756; p. 757; p. 758; p. 759; p. 760; p. 761; p. 762; p. 763; p. 764; p. 765; p. 766; p. 767; p. 768
Dec. 18, 1917 Bavarian Ambassador to the Vatican, Baron Ritter zu Groenesteyn, confidentially informs Nuncio Pacelli that the King of Bavaria urgently desires that Archbishop Faulhaber be elevated to Cardinal as soon as possible.
English translationOne month later, Pacelli receives explanations from the Vatican that Faulhaber will not be made Cardinal in the near future, because other German-speaking Churchmen are in line for Cardinal, and Munich is not a Cardinal-Archdiocese. Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 9610
Dec. 27, 1917 Matthias Erzberger writes to Archbishop Faulhaber in Munich, proposing a plan to reinvigorate German Catholicism and expand its influence in Germany.
English translation
1918
Jan. 5, 1918 Munich-based Catholic journal Allgemeine Rundschau explains that the Revolution of Nov. 1917 in Russia was the “Schicksalswende,” the decisive turn of fate brought about by German military success.
Article entitled “Milestone 1918”: first page and second page
Jan. 9, 1918 Munich Nunciature files of this date discuss Bolshevik Russia’s disclosure of the 1915 Entente Powers’ agreement to exclude the Vatican from peace negotiations. Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Jan. 12, 1918 The Allgemeine Rundschau welcomes the Russian Revolution and regime of “Lenin and his Bolsheviks,” in article entitled “Russia Breaks its Chains of Slavery.”
German original
Jan. 20, 1918 The Munich Archdiocesan newspaper describes in detail the organization of Freemason lodges in Germany.
The article notes that Jews are disadvantaged within German Freemasonry because it is led by the Prussian lodges (which historically did not admit Jews).The article thus diverges from the antisemitic conspiracy myth that “the Jews” control Freemasonry.
Jan. 22, 1918 An article in Germania, the Berlin-based organ of the Catholic Center Party, points out the Jewish surnames of Russian Bolsheviks Trotsky and Radek, and falsely claims that Lenin’s true name is Davidovich Zederblom.
Jan. 23, 1918 Count Reventlow in the Deutsche Zeitung presents his conspiracy theory that the “Pan-Jews” (Alljuden) are everywhere the leaders of revolutionary movements, in their quest for Jewish world domination.
Jan. 28, 1918 German military attaché in St. Petersburg, Russia sends a report to the German Admiralty command about the Russian Bolshevik regime, stating: “The entire current government except Lenin are Jews.” This report then reaches Kaiser Wilhelm II, who underlines the sentence quoted here.
Source: Report of military attaché Baron von Keyserlingk to Chief of Staff, German Navy, Jan. 28, 1918, reprinted in Baumgart (1967), pp. 96-97.Original German of quoted sentence: “Die ganze jetzige Regierung außer Lenin sind Juden.”
Feb. 3, 1918 The Munich Archdiocesan newspaper warns about the influence of Freemasonry in Germany, in a way that again diverges from Jewish-Masonic conspiracy theory.
The article states that Jews are not admitted as members in the old-Prussian Great Lodges.
Feb. 4, 1918 Cardinal Secretary of State Gasparri tells Belgian envoy to Vatican that he favors an international commission administering a state extending from Galilee and Nazareth south to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, including all the Holy Places.
Source: Sergio Minerbi, The Vatican and Zionism (1990), p.23, citing Belgian Foreign Office Archives.
Feb. 13, 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II, at a conference in Bad Hamburg with Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg and top military commanders Hindenburg and Ludendorff, says: “The Russian people have been handed over to the revenge of the Jews in association with all the Jews of the world. With that Freemasons.”
Source: Protokoll der Sitzung des Kronrats in Bad Hamburg, Feb. 13, 1918, reprinted in Institut für Deutsche Militärgeschichte (ed.), Militarismus gegen Sowjetmacht 1917-1919 (East Berlin, 1967), p. 219.German original: “Russisches Volk der Rache der Juden ausgeliefert sind in Verbindung mit allen Juden der Welt. Damit Freimaurer.”
Feb. 24, 1918 Article in Germania comments that Jews are being favored by the Russian Bolshevik regime while Catholics are being persecuted, and says that a German delegation in St. Petersburg encountered Russian negotiators who were uniformly of Jewish background.
Also on Feb. 24, the Munich Archdiocesan newspaper features a pastoral letter of Archbishop Faulhaber, one of three similar occurrences during 1918. German original
Feb. 1918 Munich-based Catholic journal Hochland publishes an article by Austrian priest Ignaz Seipel, the later Chancellor of Austria (1922-24, 1926-29), analyzing whether the Bolshevik government of Russia, and other revolutionary coups, are legitimate, and whether it is proper to negotiate with them.
The article makes no mention of Jews or Judaism. German text of article
Mar. 3, 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ends hostilities between Russia and Germany.
Mar. 27, 1918 Matthias Erzberger writes Nuncio Pacelli in positive terms of the role of the Jewish and Polish minorities in Lithuania, saying that legal guarantees for the full development of their economic and intellectual potential will be of “great usefulness” to that new nation.
Italian memorandum at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Mar. 30, 1918 Munich-based Catholic journal Allgemeine Rundschau publishes an article, “The Russian Peace,” advocating close economic and political ties with Russia and east European states.
The author, J. Kuckhoff, a Member of the German Reichstag, expresses fears of Panslavism and mentions nothing of Judaism or Jews. German original
Apr. 4, 1918 German military attaché in German-occupied Ukraine reports to the Chief of the General Staff of the German Army: “Abhorence is universal toward the Jews, who are branded with gusto as the instigators of the Bolshevik horrors...”
Source: “Bericht des Hauptmann Fischer zum Chef des Generalstabs des Feldheeres,” Apr. 4, 1918, reprinted in Grelka (2006), p. 180.German original: “Allgemein ist die Abneigung gegen die Juden, die mit Vorliebe als Anstifter der bolschewistischen Greuel bezeichnet werden ...”
Apr. 6, 1918 Earliest known embrace of Jewish-Bolshevik myth by influential Catholics in Munich: the Munich Nunciature reports to Cardinal Gasparri that all ministries in the Bolshevik Russian government are headed by Jews and dominated by Jews, and that the goal of the Jewish-dominated Russian Revolution is a worldwide Jewish government.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Apr. 21, 1918 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper publishes a statement by Baron Theodor von Cramer-Klett to the Bavarian Reichsratkammer (Advisory Chamber) on Church-State relations.
Cramer-Klett later develops a close relationship with Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli, who in summer 1919 procures for him a Papal title of nobility. Cramer-Klett in the early 1920s serves as President and major funder of the highly antisemitic Bavarian extremist group Aufbau, which actively promotes Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory and includes among its members such early Nazis as Alfred Rosenberg, Max von Scheubner-Richter and Max Amann. Source: Kellogg, The Russian Roots of Nazism (2005), pp. 1-17, 109-135.
May 11, 1918 Munich-based Catholic journal Allgemeine Rundschau publishes article on “Germany’s Eastern Policy - The Russian Problem,” criticizing the Bolshevik government and the Red Army under Trotsky, and analyzing future prospects for Germany with Russia and eastern Europe, while making no mention of Judaism.
German original
May 1918 Munich-based Catholic journal Hochland publishes “Der russische Mensch,” analyzing what aspects of the Russian people led to Communist revolution, with no reference to Judaism or Jews.
Excerpt from German text of article
June 1, 1918 Gasparri sends Pacelli an explanation of a controversy in Britain over Gasparri’s alleged comments about the government to be set up for Palestine and Jerusalem, including concerns about talk of “reconstitution of the Jewish kingdom.”
English translation
June 4, 1918 Pacelli conveys a German official’s report that England plans to establish itself in Palestine with the help of Zionism and Jews of the Entente countries.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
June 24, 1918 Pacelli forwards a recommendation to Gasparri for non-intervention in favor of Jews and other categories of prisoners of war.
English translation
June 28, 1918 The date of the imprimatur conferred by the Bavarian Diocese of Augsburg for Catholic author Franz Schrönghamer-Heimdal’s first of his 1918-1919 series of antisemitic writings, namely the book Vom Ende der Zeiten. Das Wissen vom Weltende nach Edda, Wissenschaft und Offenbarung [On the End of Days: Knowledge of the End of the World According to the Edda, Science and Revelation] (Augsburg: Haas & Grabherr, 1918).
The book contains voluminous superstition from sources such as the Edda, Nostradamus und Paracelsus, along with a multi-page racial antisemitic screed that claims all Jews, including baptized ones, and including Lenin, who the author claims is a Jew, are like-minded and are striving to attain Jewish domination of the world; pp. 71-74.German originals: Cover page and Imprimatur
Schrönghamer-Heimdal followed up this book with two further antisemitic books in 1918. Vom Antichrist. Ein Büchlein von Gott und Geld, vom deutschen Wesen und vom ewigen Juden [On the Antichrist: A Booklet about God and Money, about the German Character and the Eternal Jew (Augsburg: Haas & Grabherr, 1918) posits an eternal struggle between the German and “the Jew,” with the Jew as the Antichrist. Das kommende Reich. Entwurf einer Weltordnung aus dem deutschen Wesen [The Coming Reich: Outline of a World Order Based on German Character] (Augsburg: Haas & Grabherr, 1918), pp. 106-129, accuses the Jews of controlling finance, Freemasonry, revolution and Russian Communism in order to achieve world domination.
Schrönghamer-Heimdal later becomes the first author to publish a detailed version of the Jewish-capitalism-Communism world conspiracy theory in a major Munich-based Catholic journal, in the Aug. 30, 1919 issue of the Allgemeine Rundschau.
July 2, 1918 Gasparri sends Pacelli a further explanation of his remarks about the future governing of Palestine.
English translation
July 16, 1918 Czar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra and their children are murdered by the Bolsheviks.
July 19, 1918 Gasparri complains to Pacelli about Germany setting up a “solid public situation” for Jews and Protestants in the new state of Poland.
English translation
Aug. 10, 1918 Munich-based Catholic journal Allgemeine Rundschau’s lead article focuses on the past and current state of “The Russian Church,” describing the Bolshevik government’s anti-church measures without mentioning Jews or Judaism.
German original, page one and page two
Oct. 5, 1918 The Allgemeine Rundschau reports favorably and at length about Matthias Erzberger’s newly published book proposing specifics for a League of Nations as “The Path to Peace.”
German original: first page and second page
Oct. 8, 1918 The Morning Post in England editorializes that Jews control Bolshevism and anarchism in a destructive “class war against civilization.” Quoted by Kadish (1992), pp. 32-33.Also on Oct. 8th, Matthias Erzberger asks Pacelli to inform the Pope of his recent appointment as Reich State Secretary and to convey his assurances of continuing devotion to the interests of the Catholic Church. Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 9530
Oct. 16, 1918 Historisch-politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland (HPB), in an article decrying secularization and undermining of monarchs, mentions Jewry in the same breath with the Masonic Lodge - not Bolshevism - as helping to amass money that creates power superior to monarchs. German original
Nov. 1, 1918 HPB reviews a book that says liberalism and socialism, while opposite poles, are actually united in opposition to the Church and “find their unity in Judaism.” German original: first page and second page
Nov. 7, 1918 Revolution in Munich.
A mass gathering on the Theresienwiese park in Munich (site of the current-day Octoberfest) leads to the abdication and flight from Munich of Ludwig III, King of Bavaria, and the proclamation of a republic the next day, led by Kurt Eisner with an all-socialist cabinet.
Nov. 9, 1918 Revolution in Berlin.
A republic is proclaimed in Berlin following announcements of the abdication of the Kaiser and the monarchs of the various German States. Friedrich Ebert of the Social Democratic Party assumes the office of Chancellor. Matthias Erzberger continues to represent Germany as Armistice negotiator.Hitler, as a German soldier, reportedly comments at the time, “Thank God that the kings’ crowns have fallen from the tree. Now we proletarians also have something to say.” Source: M. Kellogg, The Russian Roots of Nazism (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005), p.219, citing handwritten statement in 1939 by Hitler’s commanding officer in 1918, Hans Mend, in the Bavarian Main State Archive.
Nov. 10, 1918 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper reports on Nuncio Pacelli’s visit to Italian and French prisoners in a German prisoner of war camp.
German original
Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice ending World War One is signed on behalf of Germany at Compiègne in France by Matthias Erzberger at the instruction of German army commanders Hindenburg and Ludendorff.
Pacelli cables Gasparri requesting instructions, because Archbishop Faulhaber has told him that his life is in danger and he should go to Switzerland; Faulhaber also requests the Pope to intervene with President Wilson to stop the Allied blockade of Germany. English translation - Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 6092Faulhaber later writes that he recommended Pacelli go to either Rorschach or Menzingen in Switzerland. German original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de
Nov. 13, 1918 Gasparri cables Pacelli, authorizing him to go elsewhere as advised by Archbishop Faulhaber, namely to Rorschach in Switzerland, in light of the uncertain situation in Munich.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2449
Nov. 15, 1918 Nuncio Pacelli sends reports to Gasparri on (a) the collapse of the German Empire and (b) the revolution in Bavaria.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation of Pacelli’s report re German EmpireItalian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation of Pacelli’s report re Bavaria
Nov. 20, 1918 Shortly before leaving Munich for Switzerland, Pacelli reports to Gasparri how he has declined the Socialist Bavarian Government’s attempt to establish friendly relations with him.
English translation
Nov. 22-24, 1918 Polish troops, after capturing the city of Lvov (a/k/a Lemberg in German, or Lviv in Ukrainian) from Ukrainian forces, carry out a pogrom, killing and injuring hundreds and perhaps thousands of Jews, burning synagogues and homes, and looting Jewish-operated shops.
“We must call attention to the Jews’ role in the Bolshevik movement. We do not want to claim that every Jew is, ipso facto, a Bolshevik. Far from it. Yet we cannot deny the preponderant role that the Jews play in this movement, both among the Polish communists and among the Russians where - with the exception of Lenin - all the Bolshevik leaders are either Polish Jews or Lithuanian Jews.”
Source: Kertzer (2001), p.252, quoting anonymous undated memorandum entitled “Notices sur les rapports pologne-juifs” [Information about the relations between Poles and Jews], and citing documents in the Vatican Secret Archives.
The pogroms were reported in the New York Times on Nov. 30 under the headlines “1,100 Jews Murdered in Lemberg Pogroms: Hundreds Burned to Death in a Synagogue or Shot in Flight - 600 Houses Burned - Confirmatory Cables Reach Here”.
Nov. 28, 1918 Msgr. Schioppa, in charge of Munich Nunciature during Pacelli’s 10-week absence, reports on recent disclosures implicating Germany in causing World War One. English translation
Also on Nov. 28, Schioppa sends Gasparri an urgent request from Munich Archbishop Faulhaber for a Papal decision about how to fill certain parish vacancies that were previously filled by the King under the Bavaria-Vatican Concordat of 1817. English translation
Nov. 30, 1918 US military intelligence director, Brig. Gen. Marlborough Churchill, receives a four-page report entitled “Bolshevism and Judaism,” asserting that prominent American Jews financed the Russian Revolution and that the 30 leading Bolshevik figures in Russia, except for Lenin, are all Jews masquerading under non-Jewish names.
This report is authored by Boris Brasol, a Czarist Russian intelligence officer in the US, who during late 1918 and early 1919 continues to send reports to Gen. Churchill under the code name of Secret Agent B-1. Cover letter from Agent B-1 to ChurchillThe “Bolshevism and Judaism” report later comes into the hands of Prince Yusopov, the exiled murderer of Rasputin, as well as England’s Morning Post, the joint head of MI5 and MI6, namely Sir Basil Thomson, and the U.S. State Department, which advises the British Government against allowing its publication in the Morning Post.
The report and Brasol as a source are severely criticized as unsupported, biased, fanatical, and unworthy of serious consideration, in reports by two Captains in the US military counterintelligence division, but Gen. Churchill continues to receive Brasol’s reports and has all of them sent to him at the Paris Peace Conference.
The same report later appears, translated into French, in the Catholic publication La Documentation Catholique on March 6, 1920.
November 1918 Munich-based Catholic journal Hochland publishes an article on “The Revolutionary Spirit in Russia: A Study of the Emergence of the Russian Revolution,” by Eduard Stadtler, founder of the rightwing German Anti-Bolshevik League.
The article makes no reference to Judaism or Jews. German text of article
Dec. 1, 1918 Enthusiastic book review in Historisch-politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland illuminates a path to peace and reconciliation advocated by Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster.
The review praises Weltpolitik und Weltgewissen [World Politics and World Conscience] by Foerster as “The most significant and psychologically profound book about the World War’s peace problem that has appeared in the German language.”Foerster, a prominent professor at the University of Munich, had written prolifically for two decades on issues of education, ethics and character formation, becoming a major influence on Catholic educators in the German-speaking world, including many priests, and then became a formational influence for the inter-war Catholic peace movement that grew to 30,000 members before its demise in the 1930s. Cf. Zahn (1962).
German original of book review: p.728; p.729; p.730; p.731
Foerster was attacked vigorously starting in 1918 by a Bavarian priest who was favored by Archbishop Faulhaber, namely Franz X. Kiefl, leading to Foerster ultimately leaving Munich and losing his influence among Catholic priests and educators. The affinity of Faulhaber and Kiefl on policy issues is described by Hausberger (2003), pp. 167-171; for example, Faulhaber appointed Kiefl to a commission on March 10, 1920 based on his knack for propaganda.
Foerster remained nonetheless vocal against German nationalist antisemitism in spring 1920 at the same time as Munich Catholic opinion-makers took a decisive turn toward Nazi-style antisemitism.
Dec. 6, 1918 The Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums reports with concern the appearance of a brochure entitled Ende des Militarismus - Anfang der Judenherrschaft [End of Militarism - Beginning of Rule by Jews], which was published in Berlin. Source: Hecht (2003), p.79.
Dec. 7, 1918 Munich Nunciature report from Msgr. Schioppa to Gasparri refers to “many Hebrews” in the Bavarian Socialist revolution.
English translation
Dec. 8, 1918 The Munich Archdiocesan newspaper places a positive interpretation on the Russian Revolution, exhorting the faithful to gratitude for the fall of Russian Czarism, which was marked by hostility to Catholicism, and the demise of the Russian Orthodox Church, nine centuries after the Schism of 1054: “The enormous guilt of the year 1054 meets its punishment ...”
Fuller English translation and German original: first page and second pageThis article was consistent with the initial view in the Vatican of the Russian revolutions of 1917, as an opportunity to pursue unity with, and restored Papal authority over, the Russian Orthodox Church once it lost its mainstay, the Czar. Chenaux (2009), pp. 62ff.
Dec. 14, 1918 Msgr. Schioppa reports to Gasparri that Jews and liberals as well as Catholics are joining the Bavarian People’s Party with hopes of restoring public order.
English translation
Dec. 19, 1918 Capt. Carlton Hayes of US Military Intelligence Division, counterintelligence unit, submits a report to his superiors sharply criticizing Secret Agent B-1, Boris Brasol, the author of antisemitic reports, including “Bolshevism and Judaism,” for repeatedly “lugging in the Jewish question” in a way that manifests “the raving tendency of a fanatical if not of a disordered brain.”
Hayes report page 1 and page 2Citation for Hayes report and Grosvenor report (below): US NARA, RG 165, MID 10110-920
Dec. 20, 1918 Capt. Edwin Grosvenor of US Military Intelligence Division, counterintelligence unit, submits a report to his superiors debunking Secret Agent B-1’s “Bolshevism and Judaism” report as a “jumble of opinions formed by an ill informed, suspicious and biased individual.”
Capt. Grosvenor concludes that B-1’s assertions are totally unsupported by any evidence, “arrant nonsense” and “unworthy of serious consideration.” Grosvenor report page 1 and page 2Despite Hayes’ and Grosvenor’s denunciations of B-1, the acting head of US Army Intelligence in Washington, Col. Dunn, refuses the request of their superiors in the counter-intelligence division to bring in Secret Agent B-1 for interrogation, and continues to send a total of 31 consistently antisemitic Brasol reports to US Army Intelligence head Brig. Gen. Churchill at the Paris Peace Conference.
Dec. 20, 1918 The Munich Nunciature sends Gasparri a protest letter by Baron Theodor von Cramer-Klett against the Catholic political party of Bavaria because it is seeking to appeal to non-Catholics as well as Catholics.
English translation of Cramer-Klett’s letter
Dec. 31, 1918 Gasparri cables Schioppa that the Vatican will only negotiate about the new Bavarian Government’s right to appoint parish pastors after a different government in Bavaria is “durably constituted,” and until then the Bishops can act on their own, “possibly by setting up temporary parish administrators.” English translation
December 1918 Cardinal Gasparri expresses his opposition to Zionism to the Belgian Ambassador to the Vatican:
“There is talk of a Jewish State. I do not believe that the big Jewish bankers of England and of the United States will be so unaware of the opinions of many of their faith as to support this plan. Do we not see the Jews at the head of the revolutionary movements in Russia and in Poland?”Source: Minerbi, p.122, quoting Van den Heuvel, Dec. 26, 1918, Belgian Foreign Office Archive.
December 1918 Munich-based Catholic journal Hochland publishes an article by its editor-in-chief, Karl Muth, about the “catastrophe” of Germany’s defeat and recent political and social revolution, making no reference to Judaism or Jews.
German text of article “Zur Zeitenwende”
1919
January 1919 In early January Fr. Bernhard Stempfle publishes the first issue of his personal antisemitic, nationalistic Kampfblatt in Munich, entitled Leuchtkugeln: Randbemerkungen zur Geschichte der Gegenwart von Redivivus [Illumination-flares: Marginal Comments on Current History by Redivivus].
Stempfle had been active as a journalist in Italy until moving back home to Munich some time after Italy entered the First World War in 1915 on the side of the Allies.In summer 1919 Stempfle, under the same name of “Redivivus,” began contributing many antisemitic articles to the völkisch Münchener Beobachter (renamed Völkischer Beobachter at the start of 1920 and controlled solely by the Nazi Party from late 1920 onward).
Source: Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Nachlass Stempfle 1-14, Munich.
Jan. 2, 1919 Boris Brasol report #16 to US military intelligence makes accusations against leading Jewish Americans Jacob Schiff, Louis Marshall and Oscar Strauss. Report #16 of Agent B-1 in US NARA, RG 165, MID 11010-920.
Jan. 3, 1919 Leaders of Zionist and Arab nationalist movements sign Feisal-Weizmann Agreement.
This Agreement, negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference, provides for implementation of the Balfour Declaration and large-scale Jewish immigration to Palestine, conditioned on the Arabs gaining independence for Arab areas outside Palestine. France later defeats this condition by driving Feisal out of Damascus in 1920, and the Agreement fails as a result.
Jan. 4, 1919 Vatican Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli, during a stay in Rorschach, Switzerland that began in November 1918, considers returning to the Vatican Nunciature in Munich.
Excerpts of letter from Pacelli on this date to Bavarian Ambassador to the Vatican, Baron Otto von Ritter zu Groenesteyn
Jan. 5, 1919 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper says all revolutions are caused by Freemasonry.
Beginning with this issue, the paper is renamed the Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung, with a subtitle reflecting its previous name, and ongoing description, as the weekly paper for the parish communities of the Munich area.
Jan. 9, 1919 Achille Ratti, Vatican emissary in Poland, reports to Rome: “One of the most evil and strongest influences that is felt here, perhaps the strongest and the most evil, is that of the Jews.”
Source: Kertzer (2001), p.251, quoting Ratti to Gasparri, Jan. 9, 1919.This report was made in the midst of Polish pogroms that were killing dozens or hundreds of Jews and injuring hundreds or thousands. Cardinal Gasparri had asked Ratti to look into the reported killings of Jews and “take an interest in their welfare.” Kertzer (2001), p.250, quoting Vatican Secret Archives, ANV, b.1991, prot. 439 A 172, encrypted telegram, Gasparri to Ratti, Dec. 22, 1918, pp. 512-513.
Achille Ratti became Pope Pius XI (1922-1939).
Jan. 12, 1919 Bavaria holds election for seats in the Landtag, the Bavarian State parliament.
Election results: 35% for Bavarian People’s Party, 33% for Social Democrats, 14% for German Democratic Party, 9% for Bavarian Farmers League, 3% for Kurt Eisner’s Independent Social Democrats.
Jan. 15, 1919 Communist “Spartacist Uprising” in Berlin is suppressed and its leaders, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, are killed.
Jan. 16, 1919 Historisch-politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland article “On the History of Anarchism” describes the causes of the Russian Revolution as “unbridled absolutism, corruption from top to bottom, and suppression of civic and ecclesial liberty,” together with a cadre of determined extremists around Trotsky and Lenin, who came from exile in Switzerland, and then the extremists received support from soldiers councils (Soviets) in Russia.
“Lenin is the red Czar, but more cruel than his predecessors, his policy is systematic anarchy” while “Trotsky-Bronstein, as a persecuted Jew in Russia, had to feel a particular hatred”; Lenin and Trotsky’s destructive power, turning Russia into a Bolshevik hell, is based on the Soviets.The article quotes a Swiss eyewitness and a Russian socialist woman, as well as Maxim Gorky, on the horrors of Bolshevik rule in Russia, without attributing causation or blame to Jews other than Trotsky.
German original: pages 119; 120; 121; 122; 123; 124-25; 126-27; 128
Jan. 19, 1919 Cardinal Francis Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster, visits Palestine.
Excerpt of Jan. 25, 1919 communiqué from this highest-ranking British prelate to Prime Minister Lloyd George, opposing Zionism in Palestine
Jan. 21, 1919 Boris Brasol report #25 to US military intelligence warns of imminent Russian Bolshevik-led coup attempt against the American government.
Report #25 of Agent B-1Memorandum from Capt. Carlton Hayes to his superior in US military intelligence criticizes several recent Agent B-1 reports and ridicules report #25 as “a form of Don Quixote humor.”
US head of military intelligence Marlborough Churchill sends a cable on Jan. 22 from the Paris Peace Conference to his second-in-command in DC about the under-appreciated threat of the Bolshevik movement in the US, saying “I consider this question the most important now under consideration.”
Also on Jan. 21, the Irish war of independence begins, as Irish republican leaders declare independence from Britain and begin guerrilla warfare.
Jan. 26, 1919 Msgr. Schioppa reports to Gasparri about criticism of the Bavarian People’s Party for being open to Jews.
English translation
Feb. 1, 1919 Historisch-politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland (HPB) publishes 16 pages of reports on the devastation wrought by Bolshevism upon the economy, society, religion, freedom and public order in Russia, including extensive excerpts from a speech by Hamburg businessman Rudolf Petersen, reprinted from a Berlin banking and stock market journal.
In one of the passages from Petersen, he says: “How little Bolshevism can be considered the product of the disposition of the Russian people as a whole, is apparent from the fact that 90% of the members of the government are Jews, several percent more are Latvians, and only the remainder are actual Russians.”Citation: “Zur Geschichte des Anarchismus,” HPB 163:3 (1. Feb. 1919), pp. 159-174, here 166.
German original: pages 159; 160; 161; 162; 163; 164; 165; 166-67; 168-69; 170-71; 172-73; 174
In the same issue, the HPB says Kurt Eisner put the Bavarian crown on his own unanointed head; “in place of a kingship of God’s grace, what came to light was, not the Israelite kingship of the Old Testament, but a revolutionary despotism of the worst sort.” HPB 163:3 (1919), p. 187. The article, entitled ”Our Misery,” bewails the German revolutions of November 1918 and argues that the resulting governments of the Reich and Bavaria are illegitimate, but it does not posit a Jewish conspiracy. German original: pages 186-87; 188-89; 190-91; 192
Also in this issue of the HPB, an article on “The Crisis of Socialism” analyzes socialism at length without mention of Jews (pp. 138-49), and an article on “Lenin and Trotsky” mentions several other Bolsheviks and radical socialists (pp. 150-59) - including some Jews - but with no mention of Judaism in reference to them or anything else.
Feb. 2, 1919 Fritz Gerlich becomes chairman of the Munich League for Combatting Bolshevism [Münchener Liga zur Bekämpfung des Bolschewismus]. Morsey (2016), p. 69
Feb. 8, 1919 Pacelli transmits to Gasparri a request by Jews in Frankfurt for Papal intervention against reported pogroms in Poland and Galicia.
English translation
Feb. 11, 1919 Friedrich Ebert becomes the first President of Germany.
Feb. 13, 1919 Philipp Scheidemann, of the Social Democratic Party, becomes Chancellor of the German Reich.
Feb. 15, 1919 Ukrainian troops of Simon Petliura’s nationalist forces begin a series of pogroms in the Kiev area.
During 1919 and 1920 in Ukraine, tens of thousands of Jews are killed, and hundreds of thousands are wounded or made homeless, by the separate military forces of Ukrainian nationalists under Petliura, White Russians under Denikin, and actions by Polish forces.
Also on Feb. 15, La Documentation Catholique, a new French Catholic weekly newspaper, appears, under the auspices of the Good Press [La Bonne Presse] publishing house in Paris. The contents of the inaugural edition include:Article about “The Israelites Claim Palestine” (English translation)Publisher’s statement on Origin and Program (French original)
Feb. 16, 1919 HPB article, “Bloody Review of Ideas and Events,” attributes the war and the post-war revolutions and overthrows of monarchs to international Freemasonry. Citation: HPB 163:4 (1919), pp. 193-207.
This feature recurs in the HPB for the next year until the death of the author, Fr. Wilhelm Maier, in February 1920.In the same issue, a further installment of “On the History of Anarchism” explains the origins of Bolshevik power in Finland: workers, soldiers and sailors, large numbers of whom became supporters of revolution. German original: pages 225; 226-27; 228-29
Mid-February 1919 Hitler begins acting as a Vertrauensmann [trusted agent] of the Bavarian socialist government, in a military unit based in Traunstein, Bavaria.
Source: Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris (1998), pp. 118-120; Kellogg (2005), p.220.
Feb. 21, 1919 Kurt Eisner, President of the State of Bavaria, is assassinated in Munich by Count Anton von Arco auf Valley.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation of Nuncio Pacelli’s report to Rome on Feb. 23 with details of the event and the ensuing political chaos in Bavaria
German original from Auf gut Deutsch: title page - article first page - second page
Feb. 25, 1919 Gasparri replies to Pacelli about the reported pogroms in Poland, conveying a report from Vatican diplomat Achille Ratti (later Pope Pius XI, 1922-39) minimizing the pogroms and stating how “incredibly numerous” Jews are in Warsaw.
English translation
Feb. 1919 Nationwide “Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund” [German Völkisch Defense- and Defiance League] is formed by members of the rightwing Alldeutscher Verband [All-German League] for the express purpose of antisemitic propaganda and action.
The organization’s activities in Munich are supported by antisemitic rightwing publisher J.F. Lehmann and the proto-Nazi Münchener Beobachter, which in late 1920 comes under Nazi Party ownership and full control, having changed its name in early 1920 to Völkischer Beobachter.
Mar. 1, 1919 Two HPB articles deal with Bolshevism:
“On the History of Anarchism, Pt. IV” focuses at length on how “Russian Bolshevism has spun its web into other countries,” in particular Switzerland, where Lenin had published extensively in exile and where a Bolshevik-led strike on the first anniversary of the Russian Revolution nearly overthrew the government; and Germany, where socialist leaders conspired with Russian ambassador Joffe to prepare for armed uprising and revolution. The article makes accusations of treason but not of Jewish conspiracy. German original: pages 282-83; 284-85; 286-87; 288-89; 290-91; 292-93“On the German Revolutionary Parliament,” by Fritz Zinnecke, a Center Party member who describes his experience at the December 1918 “Soviets Congress” in Berlin as a soldiers council representative, including the strong influence of Bolshevik ideas and methods, and the roles of Spartacist and other left-wing leaders, with no assertion of Jewish conspiracy. German original: pages 294-95; 296-97; 298-99; 300-01; 302-03; 304-05
Mar. 2, 1919 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper, Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung, embraces the Jewish-Masonic myth in a laudatory review of a new book promoting that same myth.
Translation of the reviewTwo weeks later Munich’s extremist völkisch paper, the Beobachter, devoted its lead article to the book.
Excerpts of additional March 2, 1919 Munich Catholic Kirchenzeitung article accusing Freemasons and anti-Catholics of trying to separate Church and State and end Church control of government-funded schools
Mar. 10, 1919 Pope Benedict XV speaks out against the prospect of the Paris Peace Conference granting Jews control over Palestine.
Statement in English translation objecting to Protestant influence in Palestine as well as these words against Jewish control: “For surely it would be a terrible grief for Us and for all the Christian faithful if infidels were placed in a privileged and prominent position; much more if those most holy sanctuaries of the Christian religion were given into the charge of non-Christians.”
Mar. 16, 1919 Cardinal Gasparri says privately: “The danger we most fear is the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.”
Source: Belgium’s Envoy to Vatican reporting Gasparri’s explanation to him of the Pope’s remarks of March 10th, quoted in Sergio Minerbi, The Vatican and Zionism (1990), p.131, citing Belgian Foreign Office Archive no. 57/26.
The text of the article is the same as material in the book Bolschewismus published by Father Erhard Schlund, O.F.M. after the fall of the Räterepublik in May 1919.Also on Mar. 16, the HPB publishes a further installment “On the History of Anarchism,” detailing Bolshevik propaganda and actions in Munich and other German cities from November 1918 onward, and mentioning Sparticist leader Rosa Luxemburg as a Russian Jewess without drawing any generalizations indicative of Jewish conspiracy. German original: pages 334-35; 336-37; 338-39; 340-41; 342-43
A further HPB article on Mar. 16,“Troubles in Bavaria,” reviews actions and speeches during Kurt Eisner’s rule, expressing concern about the danger of further and more radical revolution in Bavaria, and about “Dr. Levien” possibly leading such a revolution, still with no attempt to associate revolution with Judaism. German original: pages 375; 376-77; 378-79; 380-81; 382-83; 384
Mar. 17, 1919 Osservatore Romano defends the Pope against criticisms that his March 10th words were political, saying they were a non-political “heartful cry that the Holy Places may fall into the hands of non-Christians.”
Civiltà Cattolica also addresses the issue in March 1919, criticizing British General Allenby, the military governor of Palestine, for supporting Jews and Anglo-Saxon Protestants to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.Source: Minerbi, p.133. Minerbi observes, “The authorized Catholic responses all note the seeming danger of handing the Holy Places to the Jews, but the real fear was of the foundation of a Jewish republic in Palestine, and the Holy Places argument was employed primarily to engage religious sensibilities and to mobilize the Catholics.”
Mar. 21-22, 1919 In the Republic of Hungary, the government resigns in the face of Entente Powers’ demands to cede Hungarian territories to neighboring countries, and a coalition of Communists and left-wing Socialists seizes power and proclaims a Soviet republic.
Source: Hanebrink (2006), pp. 71-83.The leader of the Hungarian Bolsheviks, Bela Kun, had a father with ethnic Jewish origins, and a Protestant mother; antisemitic propagandists branded his government “Jewish.”
Tyrannical actions of the Hungarian Soviet republic, including a “Red Terror” that killed hundreds, combined with the presence of many Jews in high government positions, stoked Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy propaganda.
Mar. 23, 1919 Munich Kirchenzeitung says: “It would be extremely painful for the Holy See if a predominant position in Palestine were conceded to unbelievers.”
English translation of “Ecclesiastical Review” section
Mar. 28, 1919 Pacelli reports on the tumultuous political situation in Bavaria, as the head of the majority Social Democratics is unable to form a governing coalition, and Communist elements are vying for power.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Mar. 30, 1919 Munich Kirchenzeitung explains the “Roman Question”: why the Holy See cannot submit to Italian civil authority without “committing suicide.”
English translation of “Ecclesiastical Review” section
Apr. 1, 1919 HPB publishes further installments of:
“Bloody Review of Ideas and Events” comments on the Paris Peace Conference and Weimar National Assembly, states that the recent revolutions in Russia and Germany are a declaration of war on human society, and blames “English-French liberal world humanism” for the “modern pagan spirit” that lies at the root of Germany’s misfortunes; in the midst of bitter complaints about atheism and materialism, the article contains this passage: “Such a people, after it has allied itself to the spirit of Jewish unbelief, has truly no right to complain if upstarts of the God-rejected Jewish people, in the service and pay of princes of this world, mount those thrones that once were bestowed by God’s grace. And if finally all order is dissolved and anarchy with murder and plundering threatens to devastate the whole land, then that people must ascribe to themselves the guilt and shame of such humiliation, as Negroes and Senegalese have to come in order to re-establish order.” German original: pages 385; 386-87; 388-89; 390-91; 392-93; 394-95; 396-97; 398-99; 400-01; 402-03“Troubles in Bavaria Pt. II” discusses danger that parts of Bavaria might secede or be severed off, and bewails the domestic and foreign policy situation of Bavaria, referring at one point to the Frankfurter Zeitung as the “Frankfurter Judenblatt.” (p. 437) German original: pages 432-33; 434-35; 436-37; 438-39; 440-41; 442-43; 444-45
The same issue of HPB contains an article “The Unchangeable and the Changeable: Against Old and New Illusions” that says: “The work of Bismarck lies in ruins before us; today we of German ethnicity have largely lost our national consciousness, as we calmly endure Semites and foreigners as leaders and rulers.” (pp. 404-20, here 418) German original: pages 404-05; 406-07; 408-09; 410-11; 412-13; 414-15; 416-17; 418-19; 420-21
Apr. 2, 1919 Count Reventlow publishes a major Jewish-Bolshevism-capitalism conspiracy article in the Deutsche Tagezeitung, alleging collaboration by English, American and French banks with the Russian Bolsheviks.
Apr. 3, 1919 Bavarian army document refers to Hitler as a Vertrauensmann [trusted agent or representative], a position that involved political education of troops on behalf of Bavaria’s socialist government. Kershaw (1998), pp. 117-118.
Also on April 3rd, Pacelli reports to Gasparri about the parish pastor appointments issue, stating that the new Bavarian Government under Minister President Johannes Hoffmann is undoubtedly legitimate, unlike Eisner’s, but that Hoffmann “harbors a profound aversion to religion” and is not someone the Church can expect to negotiate successfully with. English translation
Apr. 5-6, 1919 British and Belgian diplomats at the Vatican report Cardinal Gasparri’s statement that he prefers the “internationalization of the Holy Places to seeing Jerusalem in Jewish hands.”
Minerbi, p.135, citing foreign office archives
Apr. 6-13, 1919 Soviets-Councils Republic of Bavaria is formed in Munich, and Social Democratic State Government flees from Munich to Bamberg in northern Bavaria.
A week later, Pacelli reports about outrages of the new Bavarian government and comments negatively about its Jewish participants, including Max Levien, who was not in fact a Jew. Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Apr. 14, 1919 Hitler is elected a battalion representative in the Soviets-Councils system of the new Socialist-Communist government. Kershaw (1998), p.118.
Apr. 18, 1919 Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums 83:14 reports that reactionary elements in Bavaria are openly calling for pogroms against Jews. Source: Hecht (2003), p. 107.
Apr. 19, 1919 The Archdiocese of Bamberg sends an appeal to all parish priests in Bavaria to recruit men into the paramilitary Freikorps to combat the Soviets-Councils Republic. English translation
Apr. 20, 1919 Polish troops, after capturing the city of Vilnius (capital of modern Lithuania), carry out a pogrom, killing dozens of Jews, wounding hundreds, and sacking synagogues and Jewish-operated shops.
Apr. 24, 1919 HPB article “Politics Without God” traces the intellectual development of secularization, liberalism, positivism and state absolutism through Machiavelli, Hegel, Rousseau, Treitschke, Bismarck, arguing that liberalism got its main support from the urban bourgeois and the state bureaucracy, with Freemasonry working behind the scenes to incite recent war and revolution. German original: pages 470-71; 472-73; 474-75; 476-77; 478-79; 480-81; 482-83
HPB article “The Center Party and the Present Social-Economic Struggle” says the Party is striving to implement Catholic social-economic teaching, as it voted with the Social Democrats to create a majority in Weimar for two recent laws aimed at enhancing the participation, dignity and consultative role of workers via councils in the coal mining industry and major state-related enterprises; but this threatens to lead to socialism. German original: pages 484-85; 486-87; 488-89; 490-91; 492-93; 494-95; 496-97; 498
Apr. 30, 1919 Nuncio Pacelli reports aggressions and threats by Councils Republic forces against him and the Nunciature, also equating Jewish with Russian and revolutionary in reporting the collapse of the “Russian-Jewish-revolutionary tyranny” in Munich.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation of report to GasparriAlso on April 30th, Communists kill a dozen hostages in Munich, including a prince, a countess, and members of the Völkisch Thule Society, as anti-Communist paramilitary forces advance into Munich.
May 1, 1919 HPB features an article “Lenin” that cites Fritz Gerlich as an authority on Communism, and analyzes Lenin’s ideas and actions without reference to Judaism.
Excerpts in English translation and German original: pages 559; 560-61; 562-63; 564The same HPB issue features “Bolshevism in Hungary,” saying it is reported that 24 of 30 members of the new Socialist-Communist government in Budapest are Jews, yet focusing the blame for developments in Hungary on the Entente powers rather than alleging an international Jewish conspiracy. Excerpts in English translation and German original: pages 565; 566-67; 568-69; 570-71; 572
May 1-3, 1919 Paramilitary forces enter Munich and overthrow the Soviets-Councils Republic, killing Communists and many civilians unaffiliated with them.
May 3, 1919 The Bavarian Volkspartei’s newspaper in Munich, Bayerischer Kurier, proclaims the Party’s support for the lawfully elected Bavarian Government (headed by Social Democrat Johannes Hoffmann) and calls for a coalition effort across the political spectrum to rebuild Bavaria. English translation of article
On the same day, the Volkspartei joins in a three-party program with the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party to provide for restoration of order and democratic government. Translation of their joint program demandsThe three-party joint program is published two days later in the Kurier with regret that the Social Democrats have not yet joined in the joint multi-party program and with hope that they will agree. German original
May 5, 1919 Pacelli reports an attack on his Munich Nunciature by anti-Communist paramilitary forces.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translationThe Vatican Nunciature on Briennerstrasse in Munich, approx. 40m east of the Königsplatz:
May 8, 1919 Bayerischer Kurier proclaims “Death Sentence for Germany” as Versailles Peace Treaty terms first become known; also publishes Munich martial law decree and a lengthy piece on political developments and the Bavarian Volkspartei. English translation
May 8-10, 1919 Gasparri cables Pacelli instructing him to secure the Nunciature archive and go to Switzerland.
Source: Besier and Piombo, The Holy See and Hitler’s Germany (2007), p.21, citing Vatican Archive of Munich Nunciature, pos. 397, fasc. 3, fo. 11r.Cf. encrypted telegrams of May 8th and 10th from Gasparri, at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document Nos. 1578 and 2496 - English translations
Pacelli stays in Rorschach, Switzerland until August.
May 10, 1919 Munich’s völkisch Beobachter resumes publication, with a lead article denouncing “the reign of Jewish Bolsheviks.”
German original
May 11, 1919 Munich Kirchenzeitung exhorts Munichers to be thankful for the overthrow of a regime that persecuted clergy and Church institutions.
English translationAn article on the same page reports that Freemasonry is trying to combat religion “like alcoholism, tuberculosis or the bubonic plague.” English translation
May 12, 1919 The Bavarian Volkspartei (BVP) appeal to voters in the local elections emphasizes issues of food, housing, medical care, law and order, and schooling along traditional confessional lines, with free tuition and books for those of modest means. English translation
The same issue of the BVP’s Munich daily paper contains an exhortation by Fr. Rupert Mayer to reconciliation and bridging the division in the Bavarian people, as well as a report on disarming civilians. English translation
May 1919 Leading Munich-based Catholic journals strongly criticize the fallen Räterepublik without branding it as “Jewish”:
Munich Kirchenzeitung on May 11 and May 18 and May 25Historisch-Politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland, May 16 on “Natural Science, Social Democracy and Revolution” - German original: pages 615; 616-17; 618-19; 620-21; 622-23; 624-25; 626-27; 628
Historisch-Politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland, May 16 on “The Development of the Social Revolution” - German original: pages 628-29; 630-31; 632-33; 634-35; 636-37; 638-39
Allgemeine Rundschau, May 17 on “Jewry in Public Life”: Excerpts in English translation
Allgemeine Rundschau, May 17 on “Bolshevism and its Psychological Preconditions”: Excerpts in English translation
Stimmen der Zeit, May issue, “Bolshevism,” by Bernhard Duhr, S.J. - German original: pages 133; 134; 135; 136; 137; 138; 139; 140; 141; 142; 143; 144; 145; 146; 147; 148 Portions of first page in English translation:
“Bolshevism is not a world issue, it is the world issue...“For Germany the danger has already become burningly vital. Thus a precise orientation appears to be the order of the day, especially since the Bolsheviks are not only declaring everything said unfavorably about Bolshevism to be a fable, but are lauding their insane doctrine as the cure for all evils and glorifying it as the sure entryway to heaven and earth...”
Duhr’s article uses the same language as the HPB of Jan. 16, 1919, saying Lenin is the red Czar, but more cruel than his predecessors, and his policy is systematic anarchy, while Trotsky-Bronstein seeks revenge for Czarist persecutions of Jews (p. 143). Like the HPB of Feb. 1, 1919, Duhr cites extensively from Hamburg businessman Petersen but omits what the HPB reported on Petersen’s statements that the Russian Bolshevik government is 90% Jewish and Bolshevism is unrelated to the historic character of the Russian people. In his generalizations about the danger of Bolshevism to Germany and Europe, Duhr focuses on Asiatic despotism, not Judaism, and raises the specter of Asiatic invasion like that of Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan.
May 1919 The BVP’s Munich daily Bayerischer Kurier promotes throughout the month a multi-party effort among the non-communist parties to restore order, striking a mostly moderate tone and refraining from antisemitic comments in articles denouncing Bolshevism and the Räterepublik:
German original of front page, May 3, 1919, first day after fall of the RäterepublikFront pages of subsequent issues discussing Räterepublik, Marxism and Bolshevism: May 5 - “Particularismus und Bolschewismus”
May 9 - “Am Trümmerhaufen der Kommunistenwirtschaft”
May 12 - “Bolschewismus und Marxismus”
May 14, 1919 Pope Benedict XV issues an encyclical on St. Boniface, the 8th century Apostle to the Germans, saying he is present among the German people today as “the representative of the Roman Catholic Church for Germany.” (para. 22)
Summary and excerpts of encyclical In Hac TantaAlso on May 14, the Bayerischer Kurier publishes a notice from Erzberger along with rumors of crisis in the Reich Government in relation to the Versailles terms. English translation
May 15, 1919 Faulhaber writes to the Bavarian Bishops about asking the Pope to intervene with the Entente to soften the Versailles peace terms.
The letter reprints a telegraph from Erzberger asking the Bishops to tell the people the peace terms are unbearable and unfulfillable.
May 16, 1919 Bayerischer Kurier publishes an appeal by the Bavarian Volkspartei for solidarity in the face of the intolerable dictates of the Versailles Peace Treaty, and unity of Bavaria with the Reich in this time of national crisis. English translation
May 17, 1919 Civiltà Cattolica reports on the April 25, 1919 Papal audience with Emir Feisal, the Arab representative to the Paris Peace Conference, who visited Rome during his return trip from Paris.
English translationAlso on May 17, Bayerischer Kurier publishes a sharp critique of Bavarian Socialist leaders for naive past statements of trust in the response of Pres. Wilson and the Allies to Bavaria and Germany adopting democracy. English translation
The same issue of Bayerischer Kurier features a lengthy denial that the Vatican incited Austria-Hungary to proceed strongly against Serbia in 1914. English translation
May 18, 1919 Munich Kirchenzeitung writes about the hostages murdered by the Communist Soviets-Councils Republic and does not focus on the Jewish ethnicity of any of the Communists.
English translation
May 21, 1919 Nuncio Pacelli writes Ambassador Ritter zu Groenesteyn from Rorschach, thanking God for protecting him and hoping he can return soon to Munich.
Excerpt of letter
May 22, 1919 Page-one article in Bayerischer Kurier highlights the problem of relying on mercenary forces and calls for a charismatic, respected military leader. English translation
May 24, 1919 Bayerischer Kurier runs an article denouncing plans to transform Catholic primary schools in Munich into inter-denominational schools and an article reporting on the progress of negotiations for a coalition government in Bavaria.
May 25, 1919 The "Ecclesiastical Review" section of the Munich Kirchenzeitung publishes a telegram from a German Bishop to Nuncio Pacelli asking him to secure the Pope’s intervention to ameliorate the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty.
English translationThe same issue contains an article on “Munich’s Devastation” by the Räterepublik, attributing problems to Bohemianism and foreigners, not Judaism by name.
May 26, 1919 Bayerischer Kurier reports the Social Democratic Party has approved the formation of a coalition government and proclaims that Bavaria “shall once again have a democratic government,” warning that: “Any step away from the ground of the democratic constitutional state leads inevitably into the abyss.” English translation
May 27, 1919 Bayerischer Kurier reports on a series of motions by the BVP in the Landtag, showing the main concerns of the Catholic party in Bavaria are addressing crises of food and shelter, public order, public finances, and care for war wounded, English translation; also with an article detailing progress toward a coalition government.
May 30, 1919 Bayerischer Kurier runs an article by Fr. F.X. Kiefl denouncing the inter-denominational school and an article by Georg Heim praising Hoffmann for agreeing to a coalition government and insisting the government must be based on democratic, parliamentary principles.
May 31, 1919 Bayerischer Kurier devotes its front page to the announcement of the make-up of the new Bavarian Coalition Government and the details of the joint program agree by the BVP, SPD and Democratic Party. English translation
May 1919 Father Erhard Schlund, O.F.M., a prominent Catholic theologian in Munich, publishes a book on Bolshevism, denouncing it as the product of the “Russian spirit,” not blaming Judaism for Bolshevism or equating the two.
Excerpts in translation
May-June 1919 Hitler is recruited by Captain Karl Mayr to become a propagandist in the refashioned Bavarian army.
Source: Kershaw (1998), pp. 121-125. During late summer 1919, Hitler begins his antisemitic propagandizing. He attacks Jews for controlling finance and capitalism in the ensuing months.Hitler receives 20 gold Marks per week for speaking, as well as his regular army pay, until his discharge from the military on March 31, 1920. Kershaw (1998), p.127.
Spring 1919 J.F. Lehmann publishing house in Munich sets up the “Deutscher Volksverlag” for the express purpose of publishing antisemitic books, and proceeds to publish during 1919 Judas Schuldbuch: Eine Deutsche Abrechnung [The Jews’ Guilt-Book: A German Settling of Accounts] by Wilhelm Meister, pseud. for Paul Bang, with a foreword by the author dated March 1919.
Judas Schuldbuch presents major elements of the Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy theory, asserting that Bolshevism is in essence Jewish, that the Soviet Russian Government is exclusively Jewish, that Bolshevism is supported by western Jewish financiers, and that Russian anarchism and nihilism are Jewish in their origin.Excerpts in German
Paul Bang was a member of the Deutsch National Volkspartei (DNVP), the most rightwing major party in Germany, which had a large following in northern Germany but little appeal among Bavarian Catholics, gaining virtually no mandates from Bavaria in the January 1919 National Assembly and Landtag elections.
Bang’s theory that Russian Bolshevism, anarchism and nihilism were purely Jewish contrasts with prominent Catholic writings in Munich such as Father Erhard Schlund’s book and the May 17 article on Bolshevism in the Allgemeine Rundschau, which attributed Bolshevism to the “Russian spirit” without mention of Jews or Judaism.
Judas Schuldbuch, shortly after it appeared, got a lengthy favorable review in Munich’s völkisch Beobachter on June 21, page 5: German original
June 1919 Fr. Bernhard Stempfle, in issue no. 5 of his four-page newspaper Leuchtkugeln: Randbemerkungen zur Geschichte der Gegenwart von Redivivus, publishes elements of Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory and threatens the Jews with a German pogrom.
Page one article “Die Schutztruppe des Großkapitals” [The Imperial Troops of Big Capital] says that the “Red” and “Golden” Internationals, at the end of the day, serve only one great purpose: “the big plans of the chosen people,” and that “nearly all the leaders of the Russian Revolution are Jews.”Page 2 article “Ewiger Jude! Wandre!” threatens “Eternal Jew, take a hike, before the German Volk arises, after a 2000-year twilight of the gods, to do a German deed.” Citation: Leuchtkugeln: Randbemerkungen zur Geschichte der Gegenwart von Redivivus [Illumination-flares: Marginal Comments on Current History by Redivivus], no. 5 (June 1919), pp. 1-2.
June 1, 1919 HPB article “Bloody Review of Ideas and Events” blames Freemasonry, Plutocracy, and Social Democracy for recent revolutionary developments. Excerpts in English translation and German original: pages 641; 642-43; 644-45; 646-47; 648-49; 650-51; 652-53; 654
The same issue contains the article “The Development of the Social Revolution in Bavaria,” explaining revolutionary developments in terms apart from Judaism. Excerpts in English translaction and German original: pages 693; 694-95; 696-97; 698-99; 700-01; 702-03; 704-05; 706-07
June 1, 1919 Munich Archdiocesan paper, the Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung, publishes article “Kommunismus?” calling out Jewish Communists of recent Munich revolutionary governments.
English translationIn the same issue, an article on “Catholics in Bohemia” attacks “liberal democratization of the political activity of Catholics.” English translation
June 7, 1919 Munich’s völkisch Beobachter begins appealing to Catholics with the front-page article “Can a Catholic Be an Antisemite?”
German original: page one and page twoNote: This viciously antisemitic newspaper was named the Münchener Beobachter in 1919, then, beginning 1920, was renamed the Völkischer Beobachter. The Nazi Party gained full ownership and control of the Völkischer Beobachter in late 1920.
June 8, 1919 The “Ecclesiastical Review” section of the Munich Kirchenzeitung tells of an outrage against Catholics in Prague.
English translation
June 10, 1919 Nuncio Pacelli writes Archbishop Faulhaber from Switzerland, asking why the Bavarian People’s Party recently agreed to the cultural policy of the Bavarian Government under Minister President Hoffmann.
English translationGerman original reprinted in L. Volk, Akten Kardinal Michael von Faulhabers, vol. 1, pp. 74-75.
June 13, 1919 Faulhaber replies to Pacelli’s letter of June 10th and states his position against compromises agreed by the Bavarian People’s Party as to school issues in the Government’s cultural policy.
English translationAlso on June 13, Father F.X. Eggersdorfer writes Faulhaber, explaining the reasonableness of BVP compromises with Hoffmann, while indicating that he is already undertaking efforts to break the BVP from its coalition with the SPD and Hoffmann. English translation
June 14, 1919 Allgemeine Rundschau publishes an article analyzing the Russian Revolution in detail without reference to Jews.
German original: first page - second and third pages - last page
June 16, 1919 HPB article “The Causes of the Revolutionary Victory of the Proletariat” attributes that victory to increasing atheism, erosion of conscience, growth of proletariat, plutocrats replacing small tradesman and entrepreneurs; no word about Jews or Judaism. Excerpts in English translation and German original: pages 743; 744-45; 746-47; 748-49; 750-51; 752-53; 754-55; 756
June 17, 1919 Faulhaber writes Eggersdorfer that it will be hard for Catholics to understand why 16-year-olds cannot make their own decision whether to attend religious instruction, but he stresses the importance of following the Nunciature in Concordat- and Church-State-related questions. English translation
On the same day, Eggersdorfer writes Faulhaber that he has gotten Bamberg Archbishop’s approval for a Bishops’ commission to handle issues related to the formulation of the Bavarian Constitution. English translation
June 18, 1919 Pacelli writes to Faulhaber approving his position as to the schools issue and commending his zeal in defending the interests of the Church. English translation
June 19, 1919 Archbishop Faulhaber writes his fellow Bavarian Bishops about steps to exercise better control and influence in matters of Church-State relations and Bavarian Government cultural policy.
English translationAlso on June 19th, Pacelli sends a report to Gasparri about political dangers to the Church arising from the Socialist government in Bavaria. English translation
June 20, 1919 German Chancellor Scheidemann resigns, in the face of an ultimatum from the Allies to sign the Versailles Treaty by June 28th or suffer immediate invasion by Allied forces already advancing under General Pershing.
Catholic Center Party and Social Democratic Party leaders hastily form a new government to sign the Versailles Treaty and avert invasion, with Gustav Bauer as Chancellor and Matthias Erzberger as Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister.
June 21, 1919 US President Woodrow Wilson appoints a commission to investigate reported pogroms by Polish forces that have been covered in the US and international press.
June 23, 1919 White Russian troops begin a series of pogroms in Ukraine.
June 28, 1919 German Government signs the Treaty of Versailles.
Under threat of continued blockade, starvation, and military invasion, Germany gives up extensive territory, agrees to pay massive monetary reparations to the Allies, agrees to strict limitations on the size and power of its armed forces, and acknowledges guilt for its role in starting World War One. New democracies such as Czechslovakia and Poland are set up in Central Europe. The Treaty incorporates the Balfour Declaration, under which Britain will establish a homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people.
June 28, 1919 Allgemeine Rundschau, an independent Catholic journal in Munich, publishes an article discussing the nature of Communism.
Summaries and excerpts of article saying Communism is “carried out with the Russian spirit and with Russian methods ...”
June 29, 1919 Munich Kirchenzeitung runs an article about care for blind and crippled children with photograph of Baron Theodor von Cramer-Klett.
German originals: front page and second page
July 1, 1919 HPB’s “Bloody Review of Ideas and Events” laments the Räterepublik as a Jewish and foreign domination of Munich, made possible by Munich’s historic cosmopolitan and inviting nature.
Excerpts in English translation German original: pages one; 2; 3; 4-5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12The same issue of the HPB has a sequel to “The Causes of the Revolutionary Victory of the Proletariat,” identifying major causes of revolution as the press, the modern school, Freemasonry and the “Los von Rom” movement. Excerpts in English translation German original: pages 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25
A third article in this HPB issue, “Modern Bavaria,” discusses causative factors for revolution and a Räterepublik “led by Jews and foreigners,” yet focuses on historical factors that do not include international Jewish conspiracy, e.g.: “The spirit of Treitschke and national liberalism, which wanted the German unitary state, is living a full life today.” German original: pages 47; 48-49; 50-51; 52-53; 54-55; 56-57; 58-59
July 3, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about Catholic political leaders in Bavaria advocating more strongly for Church interests.
English translationAlso on July 3rd, Achille Ratti (Pope Pius XI, 1922-1939), Vatican delegate to the new nation of Poland since 1918, is named Apostolic Nuncio to Poland and appointed titular Archbishop.
July 4, 1919 Pacelli sends Gasparri a letter he received from the head abbot of the Benedictine Order, Baron Fidelis von Stotzingen, reporting a conversation with a trusted informant in Berlin, Viktor Naumann, who says the German Government is very close to chaos and in grave danger of ending in Bolshevism. Source: Pacelli-Edition.de, Dokt. No. 8531
July 9, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri a grave danger that underground Bolshevik forces in Bavaria will emerge strongly to overthrow the Government. English translation
July 12, 1919 Bavarian Ambassador to Vatican writes a strong letter to Nuncio Pacelli urging upon him the importance of returning from Rorschach to Munich.
English translation
July 15, 1919 Hungarian paramilitary forces, formed in Szeged under ex-Admiral Miklos Horthy, begin a “White Terror” campaign of violence against Jews and others suspected of Communism.
Franciscan priest Istvan Zadravecz consecrates a flag of a paramilitary unit headed by Pal Pronay.Source: Herczl (1993), p.32, citing Pamlenyi (1963), pp. 93-95.
Also on July 15, Pope Benedict XV sends a letter to the German Bishops encouraging them in domestic rebuilding and international reconciliation now that the Versailles Peace treaty has ended the war. This letter is later published in January 1920 by Documentation Catholique in France.
Also on July 15th, Pacelli sends Gasparri a report from Erzberger about the Center Party’s role in the last-minute formation of a new German Government to sign the Versailles Treaty and avert Allied invasion and national calamity. English translation
July 16, 1919 HPB’s “Bloody Review of Ideas and Events” complains that “Jewish throne-overthrowers feel safer in the hideout of a Lower Bavarian farmhouse than the King in his Residence,” yet proceeds to analyze Bavaria revolution by reference to influences of Luther, Lessing, Voltaire, Freemasonry, and not Jewry. German original: pages 100-01; 102-03; 104-05; 106-07; 108
July 18, 1919 Gasparri sends a letter to the German-American Association exhorting them in the name of the Pope to come to the aid of their suffering brethren in Germany.
This letter is also published in January 1920 by Documentation Catholique in France.
July 25, 1919 German Vice Chancellor Matthias Erzberger speaks in the Reichstag, accusing German militarists and right-wing politicians of bringing defeat and harsh peace terms upon Germany by refusing to negotiate in good faith in 1917 after the Pope’s peace initiative. Source: Epstein (1959), pp. 328-331.
Erzberger’s speech discloses, without Nuncio Pacelli’s permission, certain aspects of Pacelli’s role in the Papal peace initiative of 1917.Pacelli had sent Erzberger’s request for permission to Gasparri by telegraph on July 23, but he used Vatican envoy Luigi Maglione’s telegraph facilities in Bern, 200km from Rorschach, and the resulting delays prevented his timely receipt of Rome’s response.
Maglione sent Pacelli’s July 23 request to Rome by telegraph on July 24 and reported that fact to Pacelli.
Also on July 25th, from Rorschach, Switzerland, Pacelli sends Baron Theodor von Cramer-Klett’s best wishes by telegram to Pope Benedict XV on the Pope's name-saint feastday. Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de
Cramer-Klett’s relationship with Pacelli, Gasparri, Pope Benedict and Faulhaber becomes increasingly evident in the Munich Nunciature documents of the early 1920s, as seen in the Timeline entries of July 25, 1919, Aug. 18, 1919, Sept. 15, 1919, Feb. 14, 1920, Oct. 23, 1920, Nov. 21, 1920, Nov. 13, 1921, Dec. 21, 1921 and Apr. 26, 1923.
Also on July 25th, Pacelli reports to Gasparri about a compromise on German school policy reached by the Center Party and the Socialists in the drafting of the Weimar Constitution. English translation
July 26, 1919 Maglione in Bern, Switzerland cables Gasparri again on behalf of Pacelli about Erzberger’s request to disclose information, which he had already in fact disclosed the previous day. English translation
On the same day, Pacelli sends a report to Gasparri about the new Reich Constitution removing Bavaria’s authority to conduct foreign relations, and Hoffmann’s assurance that he wants to preserve the Munich Nunciature. English translation
July 27, 1919 Munich Kirchenzeitung begins a regular series of “Vatican Review” sections, presenting Church-State issues and Church developments from the Vatican’s standpoint.
English translation of excerptsLike the “Ecclesiastical Review” section of previous months, the “Vatican Review” gives inside information from the Vatican and presents various issues from Rome’s perspective; unlike the earlier section, the “Vatican Review” bears a byline, namely Friedrich Ritter von Lama.
July 28, 1919 Maglione in Bern transmits a telegram to Gasparri on behalf of Pacelli, reporting that Erzberger has made the disclosures despite Pacelli twice instructing him not to do so without Vatican approval. English translation
July 29, 1919 Pacelli in Rorschach drafts a telegram to Gasparri saying that he has issued a press statement declaring that Erzberger did not learn any content of Pacelli’s Aug. 30, 1917 letter from Pacelli. English translation
On the same day, Gasparri sends an instruction to Pacelli to return to Munich forthwith, unless there is serious proximate danger. English translation
July 30, 1919 Maglione in Bern writes to Pacelli, conveying a telegram from Gasparri saying, “it is opportune that You consent to Minister Erzberger publishing the entirety of the indicated documents.” Fuller English translation
On the same day, Maglione in Bern transmits another telegraph on behalf of Pacelli to Gasparri about the disclosure controversy in Germany. English translationAlso on July 30, the Münchener Beobachter continues its pattern of echoing antisemitic statements from Catholic publications, by reprinting assertions from Germania, the Catholic Center Party’s organ in Berlin, about the prevalence of Jews in Communist movements. German original
July 31, 1919 Pacelli sends another message to Maglione in Bern for Gasparri in Rome, responding to an accusation in Germany about insecurity and indiscretion in Papal diplomacy, and repeating that Erzberger did not gain inside knowledge from Pacelli. English translation
Aug. 1, 1919 Hungary’s Soviet government collapses under an Entente-backed Romanian invasion; Bela Kun and fellow Communist rulers flee.
White Terror attacks ensue, continuing into 1920, killing thousands suspected of Communism, and interning tens of thousands more.White Terror paramilitary units mass murder Jews in multiple towns and villages based on equating Judaism with Communism.
Source: Hanebrink (2006), pp. 83-87.
Aug. 1919 Judas Schuldbuch, by Paul Bang of Munich under the pseudonym Wilhelm Meister, with its fairly complete Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy theory, continues strong sales as J.F. Lehmann’s Deutscher Volksverlag issues a third edition; still, Munich-based Catholic journals have not picked up and repeated Bang’s version of the conspiracy theory.
Aug. 1, 1919 Pacelli reports Erzberger’s disclosures of information without Vatican permission as a “deplorable indiscretion.” Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Aug. 2, 1919 Documentation Catholique publishes lengthy article “The Jewish Power - Jews and Bolsheviks.”
Original French cover and précis of contentsEnglish translation of article
Also on August 2, Maglione in Bern sends two telegrams for Pacelli to Gasparri, responding to accusations of missteps by Papal diplomacy, and repeating that Pacelli deplores the indiscretion by Erzberger, which has nonetheless redounded to the credit of the Holy See. English translation
Aug. 3, 1919 Munich Kirchenzeitung denounces revolutionary activists as “loud ranters” from the East and says that because of matters like the struggle against the Christian school and religious instruction, “the Bavarian people have hardly ever been so unfree and enslaved as in recent times."
English translation
Aug. 6, 1919 The völkisch Munich Beobachter prints a front-page item entitled “Erzbergers „Enthüllungen“,” stating:
The reporter for the “Times” reports from Rome: Erzberger’s disclosures about the English step for peace via intermediation of the Vatican have evoked great astonishment in Rome. Both the Vatican and political circles are taken totally unawares. The Cardinal Secretary of State received the “Times” reporter this morning and declared to him that Erzberger’s disclosures were not correct. The Holy See, in view of the misunderstanding that has arisen, will publish the relevant documents.
Aug. 7, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that the new Reich Constitution will apply to Bavaria as well as to the nation, and that Pacelli is returning to Munich on August 8th.
English translationAlso on Aug. 7, a Bavarian priest complains to Pacelli that the German Bishops are giving in to subordination of Church to State while claiming to the world “that the ‘Center Party’ has really once again come to the rescue.” English translation of letter from Fr. Hollweck
Aug. 11, 1919 Weimar Republic Constitution is adopted, providing for parliamentary democratic government, with an elected President and a cabinet headed by a Chancellor (prime minister).
Aug. 14, 1919 Pacelli cables Gasparri conveying Faulhaber’s urgent request to fill vacant parish pastor positions (appointments that still required approval by the Bavarian government headed by the “anti-clerical Minister Hoffmann”).
English translation
Aug. 16, 1919 Gasparri cables Pacelli instructing that the Bavarian Bishops are to appoint temporary administrators for the vacant parishes and not attempt to resolve the presentation issue before there are comprehensive negotiations about the Concordat. English translation
Also on Aug. 16, Munich-based Catholic journal Historisch-politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland (HPB) publishes article “On the Ukrainian Problem,” explaining that the Jewish population of the Ukraine, better educated on the whole than their fellow Ukrainians, has an important role to play in building the new Ukrainian nation. HPB 162:4 (1918), pp. 239, 246.
Aug. 18, 1919 Pacelli sends Gasparri the Church-State provisions of the new Weimar Constitution, also commenting on an anti-Church statement by Hoffmann; quoting Msgr. Hollweck’s critique of the Center Party; and making extenuating explanations about the Center Party’s conduct.
English translation of Pacelli’s reportAlso on Aug. 18th, Pacelli submits to Gasparri a request to give Baron Cramer-Klett the Papal title of Privy Chamberlain to the Pope. Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 5204.
Gasparri asks Pacelli on Sept. 15, 1919 to inform Cramer-Klett that the Pope has conferred the requested title of nobility upon him.
Aug. 20, 1919 Prof. Franz Xaver Eggersberger informs Archbishop Faulhaber of developments in Church-State relations involving Minister President Hoffmann.
English translation
Aug. 22, 1919 Budapest Chief Rabbi seeks help from British mission because all Jews are blamed for Hungarian Soviet government even though most Jews were harshly persecuted by it.
Source: American Jewish Year Book, vol. 22 (1920), p.122.
Aug. 23, 1919 Franz Schrönghamer-Heimdal publishes an antisemitic article declaring a spiritual war between the “eternal Jew” and the “eternal German,” in the Munich-based Catholic journal Allgemeine Rundschau.
German original and English translation of article “World-Upheaval”
Aug. 24, 1919 “Vatican Review” section of Munich Kirchenzeitung reports on conflict in the Church in Czechoslovakia instigated by the “Freemasonic” government of that country.
English translation
Aug. 25, 1919 Hitler gives a talk “über den Kapitalismus, der dabei die Judenfrage streifte” [about capitalism, which thereby touched upon the Jewish question], in the Bavarian Army political indoctrination course organized by Capt. Karl Mayr. Jäckel & Kuhn (1980), p. 88.
Aug. 29, 1919 Jews in Hungarian towns of Tolna-Ozera, Enying and Simontornya are driven out; some are tortured and some are killed.
Source: American Jewish Year Book, vol. 22 (1920), p.123.
Aug. 30, 1919 A detailed version of the Jewish-Communist-capitalist conspiracy theory appears in the Catholic journal Allgemeine Rundschau under the byline of Franz Schrönghamer-Heimdal.
English translation and German original: first page, second pageSchrönghamer-Heimdal had previously published a trilogy of antisemitic books in Bavaria during 1918, the first of which, Vom Ende der Zeiten, bore an imprimatur from the Diocese of Augsburg.
Schrönghamer’s articles of Aug. 23 and 30 in the AR remained an outlier, in the universe of the five leading Munich-based Catholic journals, until the same conspiracy theory was promoted by the Kirchenzeitung in April 1920.
Sept. 3-4, 1919 Bavarian Bishops, meeting in their annual conference, adopt instructions for the Bavarian People’s Party on issues of schools, Church-State relations, and Bavarian Constitution.
English translation of Minutes of Bishops Conference
Sept. 6, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri, based on a discussion with a German Reich official about the Democratic Party joining the governing parliamentary coalition, that Erzberger is considered the singular will-power and force of the current Cabinet, but his “imprudence” is “most extremely deplorable.”
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Sep. 7, 1919 “Vatican Review” section of Munich Kirchenzeitung reports that relations are still strained between the Bavarian Government and Nuncio Pacelli after his return from his long absence.
English translation of article accusing Munich of “childish disregard of the Pope’s representative”
Sep. 12, 1919 Hitler for the first time attends a meeting of the German Workers Party in Munich, in his capacity as a political informant, propagandist, and agent of the Bavarian forces of the German army. Kershaw (1998), p.126.
This “Party” is a small antisemitic group, numbering only several dozen, who meet in Munich beer halls. It is relaunched on Feb. 24, 1920 as the National Socialist German Workers Party and draws a thousand or more to its inaugural meeting at Munich’s Hofbräuhaus Beer Hall.
Sep. 14, 1919 “Vatican Review” section in Munich Kirchenzeitung contains a wide range of typical insider-information on issues of importance to the Vatican, including danger of Church schism in Czechoslovakia, details of a recent Papal audience, further details about the exclusion of the Vatican from the Paris Peace Conference, and the following brief notice about Msgr. Schioppa’s near escape when Prussian military forces fired at the Nunciature during their overthrow of the Räterepublik several months earlier:
Prelate Schioppa, the Auditor of our Nunciature, who during the overthrow of the Councils dictatorship nearly became victim to some stray bullets, has returned to his post after being received in special audience by the Pope.Nuncio Pacelli had reported on May 5, 1919 that Prussian troops directed machinegun and rifle fire at the Nunciature, with multiple shots striking Schioppa’s bedroom and bathroom there right after he turned on a light around 10pm on May 3.
On Sept. 14-16, the Vienna Morgenzeitung reports many recent attacks on Hungarian Jews, saying 3,000 have been killed.
Sept. 15, 1919 Gasparri informs Pacelli that Pope Benedict XV has agreed to give Baron Cramer-Klett the title of Papal Privy Chamberlain.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 1305.
Sep. 16, 1919 HPB article “What Bolshevik Government Has Produced in Russia” describes in detail the ruin of the Russian economy by Communism and gives an ethnic breakdown of Party members at the recent 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party, stating 49 Jews among 301 delegates. German original: pages 348; 349; 350; 351; 352; 353; 354; 355; 356; 357; 358
Sep. 16, 1919 Hitler writes a detailed antisemitic letter to a Herr Gemlich.
The letter is noteworthy because it is Hitler’s earliest known antisemitic writing, it is written in a style different from Hitler’s earlier writings, and it focuses repeatedly on moral and spiritual issues, unlike Hitler’s earlier writings.English translation of Hitler’s letter to Gemlich. Major themes of the letter - Jews remain foreigners in whatever country they live; they universally inspire people to hate them; Judaism should be understood as a race more than a religion; and antisemitism should be pursued in a “just” and rational rather than emotional manner - are seen in earlier antisemitic literature, e.g. Civiltà Cattolica of Jan. 1, 1881.
English translations of a representative sample of Hitler’s previous writings
English translations of Hitler’s speeches and writings from October 1919 to mid-April 1920
Sept. 18, 1919 American military mission in Vienna reports on mass murders and persecutions of Hungarian Jews and others “on the pretext that they are Communists.” Source: Katzburg (1981), pp. 39-40.
Sept. 20, 1919 Bishop Henle writes Faulhaber and says Hoffmann may go down in Bavarian history as “the author of the revolution.” English translation
Sept. 21, 1919 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung’s “Vatican Review” section comments on the number of Cardinals visiting Palestine in recent months.
English translation
Sept. 23, 1919 Bishop Lingg writes Faulhaber asking that the upcoming Bishops’ pastoral letter not raise the complaint about the funeral oration for Eisner comparing him to Jesus and John Hus. English translation
Sept. 28, 1919 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung’s “Vatican Review” section describes “culture war” against the Church in Czechoslovakia.
English translation
Oct. 1919 Hochland article “Prophetic or Marxist Socialism?” by Max Scheler discusses types of socialism ranging from Lenin-Trotsky Russian communism to Spartacists, Independents and Majority Socialists in Germany, and distinguishes his own idea of “Solidarity” or Christian socialism, without associating any type of socialism with Judaism or Jews. Hochland 17:1:1 (1919), pp. 71ff.
Oct. 1, 1919 HPB article “The Disturbances in Hungary” discusses the origin, course and aftermath of the Räterepublik under Bela Kun in Hungary without attributing it to an international Jewish conspiracy. German original: pages 436; 437; 438; 439; 440; 441; 442; 443; 444
Oct. 4, 1919 Hitler reports to his commanding officer about a meeting of the German Workers Party with 24 persons in attendance at the Sternecker Beer Hall in Munich, and Hitler requests permission to join this party.
Oct. 6, 1919 Pacelli sends Gasparri the Church-State provisions of the new Bavarian State Constitution, also reporting, in the midst of a Bavarian Government crisis, that he has arranged for Catholic Landtag deputies to pressure Hoffmann without Pacelli or the Vatican becoming known as the source of the initiative.
English translation of report
Oct. 7, 1919 Faulhaber meets with Neuffer, an organizer of Bavarian Einwohnerwehr paramilitary forces planning a putsch against Minister-President Hoffmann; Neuffer says they have weapons and ammo of which the government knows nothing, and they want to put Ernst Pöhner and Eugen Knilling into key positions.
The meeting is recorded in Faulhaber’s diary. Faulhaber later meets with the head of the paramilitary group, Georg Escherich, on Jan. 29, 1920 and authorizes priests to conduct flag-blessings for the paramilitary units. The putsch occurs during the night of March 13-14, 1920. Escherich’s first meeting after the putsch succeeds is with Faulhaber on March 14th.Also on Oct. 7th, Pacelli reports to Gasparri that the Democratic Party has joined the governing Reich coalition, on the condition that Erzberger resign the Vice Chancellorship. English translation
Oct. 14, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that Catholic politicians in Bavaria have refused the Socialists’ invitation to enter a coalition government, thus ensuring that the Socialists bear public blame for unavoidable continuing governmental and economic crisis.
Further, because the Bavarian army is largely Socialist, it is thought that the army “would not offer to defend a Government not presided over by a Socialist against new Communist and Spartacist agitations.” English translation
Oct. 16, 1919 US Ambassador John W. Davis in London cables US Secretary of State Robert Lansing, requesting immediate investigation into Jewish-Communist conspiracy allegations, reported by an unnamed Russian officer, claiming that the Russian Bolsheviks received financial aid from prominent American Jews, among them Jacob Schiff, Felix Warburg, Otto Kahn, Mondell Schiff, Jerome Hanauer, Max Breitung and one of the Guggenheims, information which the British Morning Post is about to use for antisemitic propaganda.
Text of cableWashington replies the next day that it has no evidence supporting the allegations but will investigate, and that British authorities should be encouraged to prevent publication of the allegations until further notice from the US.
Telegram from Alvin Adee at US State Department to Embassy in London, Oct. 17, 1919
Oct. 17, 1919 US Embassy in London sends Washington the five-page French language report allegedly by a Russian officer, claiming that Jews control Russian Bolshevism; the report begins and ends with quotations from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Attached French original document "Bolchevisme & Judaisme," page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, and page 5.
Note: This five-page French document, with slight modifications, was later published in Documentation Catholique on March 6, 1920.
Oct. 21, 1919 Communiqué from US Embassy in London to Washington acknowledging the antisemitic and unfounded nature of the “Bolshevism and Judaism” article, and stating “we have the whole thing in cold storage.”
Original communiqué
Oct. 25, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about negotiations for the Vatican and the German Reich to exchange ambassadors for the first time.
Bavarian Minister-President Hoffmann has proposed that even with a new Vatican Embassy in Berlin, the Nuncio could remain in Munich.Pacelli credits the Center Party for negotiating favorable provisions for the Church in the new German Constitution, and comments on the religious and political power of the Church in Germany. English translation
Oct. 26, 1919 Archbishop Faulhaber gives a major speech on Church-State relations to thousands gathered at the Munich Catholic Congress.
The speech appears on the front page of the Munich Kirchenzeitung - English translation of speechPacelli sends Gasparri a laudatory report about the speech: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 328.
Gasparri replies a month later with extensive words of praise from Pope Benedict XV for the “zelante” (zealous) Archbishop and his conduct at the Congress: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 5503.
Faulhaber's speech appears in French translation in Documentation Catholique on Jan. 3, 1920.
Oct. 26, 1919 Pacelli cables Gasparri recommending, at the request of the Bavarian government, that Archbishop Faulhaber be made a Cardinal.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 8022.
Oct. 28, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about the Munich Catholic Congress, praising Faulhaber’s Oct. 26th speech.
English translation of report
Oct. 30, 1919 Pacelli sends Gasparri a lengthy report about his detailed discussion with Minister President Hoffmann on the possible terms for a new Bavarian Concordat.
Pacelli seeks to maintain the government subsidies and privileges of the Church under the 1817 Bavaria-Vatican Concordat, while removing the State's “patronato” right to make appointments to Church offices. English translationOn the same day, Pacelli cables Gasparri about the pressing issue of resolving the appointment process to fill vacant parish pastor positions, in reference to his discussion with Hoffmann. English translation
Nov. 1919 Hochland article “Einzelnes der Judenfrage” by antisemitic author Joseph Grassl goes on for 20 pages about racial characteristics of Jews without hinting Jewish control or influence in Communism or Bolshevism.
Nov. 1, 1919 HPB article “Views of Reason and Faith upon the Puzzles and Troubles of the Day” analyzes Communism and its catchword sozialization at length without reference to Judaism or Jews. Excerpts in English translation German original: pages 551; 552; 553; 554; 555; 556; 557; 558; 559; 560; 561; 562; 563; 564; 565; 566
Nov. 6, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that Hoffmann, responding publicly to Faulhaber, claims to be against clericalism not religion.
The report refers to Hoffmann’s “pertinaciously anti-religious position and activity.” English translation of report
Nov. 9, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri the formation of a monarchist political party in Bavaria, advising that this development is not opportune. English translation
Nov. 9, 1919 “Vatican Review” section of Munich Kirchenzeitung tells readers of the Allies’ exclusion of the Pope from the Paris Peace Conference, and the serious problems for the Church in Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
English translation
Nov. 10, 1919 Pacelli reports to Gasparri the agreement reached with Minister President Hoffmann about presentation rights for new parish pastor appointments, despite the “sustained difficulties of the persistent regalistic tendencies of this Minister.”
English translation of reportReport of same agreement by Faulhaber to his fellow Bavarian Bishops, in English translation
Nov. 12, 1919 Hungarian Catholic Bishop Ottokár Prohászka publishes an article saying the Hungarian Bolshevik regime had been a “Russian-Jewish invasion” and “racial imperialism.”
Source: Paul Hanebrink, A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism (Cambridge: Belknap Harvard Univ. Press, 2018), p. 44, citing O. Prohászkar, “Mi, magyarság és kereszténység,” Nemzeti Ujság, Nov. 12, 1919, reprinted in Osszegyujtött munkái, vol. 22: Iránytu, ed., Antal Schutz (Budapest, 1927), pp. 213-215.
Nov. 12, 1919 Gasparri approves Pacelli’s Oct. 30th proposals for content of a new Bavarian-Vatican Concordat. English translation
Nov. 14, 1919 Pogroms in Hungarian towns of Dissel and Topolya kill and injury many Jews. Source: American Jewish Year Book, vol. 22 (1920), p.224.
Nov. 13, 1919 Hitler attacks as Jews: Karl Liebknecht, Matthias Erzberger, Max Lewien (none of whom were Jewish), as well as Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Radek, Kurt Eisner, and three Jewish leaders of the Räterepublik, without branding Bolshevism or the Soviet Russian government as Jewish. Jäckel & Kuhn (1980), p. 92.
Nov. 16, 1919 HPB article “Bavarian-Political Troubles” exhorts the BVP to resistance against the “ruinous regime of the revolutionary era,” namely against the Social Democrat-led Bavarian government and its school policy; all attacks are focused on Minister-President Johannes Hoffmann and his fellow Social Democrats, not on Jews. German original: pages 624-25; 626-27; 628-29; 630-31; 632-33; 634-35; 636-37; 638-39; 640
Nov. 16, 1919 Pacelli transmits to Gasparri the German Bishops’ Aug. 24, 1919 memorandum critiquing some of the church-state provisions of the Weimar Constitution.
Pacelli’s cover letter in translation
Nov. 17, 1919 US State Department official transmits results of investigation into the “Bolshevism and Judaism” article.
Cover Memorandum from A.J.C. in the State Department to Mr. Poole of the Russian DivisionThe investigation determined that the “Bolshevism and Judaism” article was prepared by an investigator named Brazall (apparently Boris Brasol) working for the War Trade Board.
An attached three-page memo discusses efforts to make the Protocols known in the US, saying it is “tremendously unfortunate that this sort of attempt should be made to combat Bolshevism with fraud.”
Page 1, page 2, page 3Page 3 of the memo refers to British authorities who are alleging “a scheme for world dominion” by “various groups of international Jews.”
Original English language article “Bolshevism and Judaism” prepared by Boris Brasol, attached to State Department report:
Page 1, page 2, page 3 (page 4 is missing or not copied in National Archives files), page 5
Nov. 19, 1919 Gasparri asks Pacelli to review and report back on Baron Cramer-Klett’s proposal of special Vatican honors for several Bavarian Catholics. English translation
Nov. 25, 1919 Russian Division of US State Department is instructed by Winslow that it should handle the “Bolshevism and Judaism” matter however they deem fit, in their complete discretion.
Memorandum from Office of the Under Secretary of State
Nov. 28, 1919 US Secretary of State Lansing cables US Embassy London that the “Bolshevism and Judaism” article “has no special validity” and that “it would seem most unwise to give it the distinction of publicity.”
Text of cableNote: Lansing was aware of the innocent conduct of Jacob Schiff with respect to Russia, as seen in a series of events in April and May 1917. Lansing’s nephew, John Foster Dulles, was an officer at the War Trade Board during World War I, where the author of the Bolshevism and Judaism report, Boris Brasol, was said to be employed, whether accurately or as a cover for Brasol who had submitted reports to US military intelligence anonymously as Secret Agent B-1.
Nov. 28, 1919 Gasparri informs Pacelli that Pope Benedict XV was very pleased to learn of Munich Catholic Congress and the speech by the zealous Archbishop. English translation
Also on Nov. 28, Pacelli sends Faulhaber the 10 point-list of demands for new Concordat terms that he has already shared with Hoffmann. English translation
Dec. 1, 1919 Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory is denounced as absurd and dangerous by Munich-based author Fritz Gerlich, in a book favorably reviewed in an influential Munich-based Catholic journal, which calls Gerlich “one of the best experts on Communism and Bolshevism.”
Gerlich’s denunciation and ridicule of the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory is the best thus-far known explanation for Hitler’s failure to feature this conspiracy theory in his public speeches until after the theory was popularized by Bavarian Catholic authority in April and May 1920.Gerlich was a speaker and key influencer in the Army’s political indoctrination classes that Hitler attended in 1919. Weber (2017), pp. 90-91. For its political indoctrination course in Munich, the Army purchased 500 copies of Gerlich’s book that attacked the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory. Morsey (2016), pp. 72, 79.
German original of review of Gerlich’s book in Historisch-politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland: first page and second page
Dec. 1, 1919 HPB article “The ‘Achievements of the Revolution’” says what has governed revolutionary Germany is not soldiers-workers councils or parliaments, but rather individuals exercising power: Ebert, Scheidemann, Hoffmann, Heine, Noske, Erzberger, etc. Excerpts in English translation German original: pages 697; 698-99; 700-01; 702-03; 704-05; 706-07; 708
Dec. 2, 1919 Bishop Lingg of Augsburg replies to Faulhaber about Pacelli’s 10 points that the Bishops and their commission cannot change them without being blamed for failing to follow Vatican instructions. English translation
Dec. 3, 1919 Bavarian priest F.X. Kiefl writes a letter to Faulhaber urging the importance of upholding the validity of the 1817 Bavaria-Vatican Concordat to provide a favorable basis for negotiations about the new Church-State relationship. English translation
Dec. 4, 1919 Faulhaber replies to Kiefl, agreeing with him, inviting him into the Bishops commission on Church-State issues, and explaining that in order to stand by the 1817 Concordat, the Church has not invoked its right under the Weimar Constitution to appoint freely to its own offices without governmental involvement. English translation
Dec. 6, 1919 Eugenio Pacelli writes his brother Francesco in Rome to request behind-the-scenes support for his efforts to preserve the Einwohnerwehr, an anti-Communist Bavarian citizen army that exists in violation of the Versailles Treaty and that is later disbanded, in 1921, under threat of invasion by the Entente Powers.
English translation and Italian original
Dec. 7, 1919 The Catholic Bishops of Bavaria jointly decree that all Catholics be instructed not to read or allow into their homes the “bad press.”
Translation of Bishops’ Pastoral Letter published in Munich Archdiocese weekly newspaper.Article following the Pastoral Letter, exhorting Catholics to read only the “good press.”
Also on Dec. 7th, Pacelli reports back to Gasparri about Vatican honors recommended for certain Bavarian Catholics by Baron Cramer-Klett and Archbishop Faulhaber. English translation
Dec. 12, 1919 Hungarian newspaper reports Catholic priests promoting Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory and calling for defensive measures against Jews.
Source: Nemzeti Ujsag, Dec. 12, 1919, p.2, cited in Herczl (1993), pp. 31-32 & nn. 103-104.These statements were made at a Budapest convention of the Awakening Hungarians, a movement that incited and supported the White Terror in Hungary.
Dec. 16, 1919 HPB sequel “The ‘Achievements of the Revolution’” associates Jewry with Socialism, but not with revolution, which it blames on atheism, individualism, democracy, pleasure-seeking, decline in morals, offenses against the Ten Commandments, and alienation of the masses from the Church. German original: pages 745; 746-47; 748-49; 750-51; 752-53; 754-55; 756-57; 758-59; 760
Dec. 20, 1919 Pacelli sends Gasparri a recommendation that Fr. Bernhard Stempfle be named the ecclesiastical affairs consultant and press agent for the newly planned German Embassy to the Vatican.
English translation of report, Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 985.Stempfle was not named to this position, and became instead publicist and organizer for the Einwohnerwehr, the Bavarian paramilitary force that played a central role in the Kahr putch of March 1920.
Dec. 1919 German translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is sent by its Berlin-area publisher to Munich’s Völkisch Beobachter newspaper staff.
Source: Michael Kellogg, The Russian Roots of Nazism (2008), p.68.German edition with Foreword dated July 1919:
Protocols first German edition Timeline of the Protocols at the website of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Dec. 27, 1919 Pacelli sends a diplomatic note to Bavarian Minister President Hoffmann proposing the opening of negotiations for a new Vatican-Bavaria Concordat. English translation
Dec. 30, 1919 Archbishop Faulhaber meets in Rome with Pope Benedict XV and Cardinal Gasparri; they discuss the political situation in Bavaria among other topics.
Faulhaber’s notes of his audience with Pope Benedict, in English translationFaulhaber’s notes of his audience with Cardinal Gasparri, in English translation
Late 1919 to early 1920 More than a hundred Germans prominent in government, academia, church leadership and other spheres of German life submit statements about antisemitism to be published by the Volkskraftbund (“People Power League”).
The statements are published in a book entitled Deutscher Geist und Judenhass [The German Spirit and Jew-Hatred], which appears in 1920.Statement condemning antisemitism and supporting the Zionist movement from Matthias Erzberger, who is the German Finance Minister and a prominent figure in the Catholic Center Party
Antisemitic statements from two Bavarian Bishops, the only two Catholic Bishops who respond to the People Power League
1920
Jan. 1, 1920 HPB publishes article “The Center Party at the Crossroads,” by Baron Hermann von Lüninck, arguing that the Party has strayed from its roots and alienated three groups of its strongest and most faithful Catholic supporters: the nobility, farmers and academics. HPB 165 (Jan. 1, 1920), p.53.
Jan. 2, 1920 Gasparri sends two cables to Pacelli:
Instructing Pacelli to inform Catholics that the Vatican wants the Bavarian Embassy to continue in existence after a German Reich Embassy to the Vatican is established, despite rumors that the German Government wants to eliminate the Bavarian Embassy. www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Dokt 5580. English translationSaying that Archbishop Faulhaber, visiting the Vatican, asks Pacelli to have Faulhaber’s Vicar General immediately start publicizing the reasons for maintaining the Bavarian Legation to the Vatican. www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Dokt 5581. English translation
Jan. 3, 1920 La Documentation Catholique in France publishes Archbishop Faulhaber’s speech of Oct. 26, 1919.
English translation of speech and French original comprising front page and pages 16; 17; 18; 19Faulhaber was in Rome for nine days beginning Dec. 28, 1919, according to his diary.
Jan. 4, 1920 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about his trip to Berlin and negotiations about opening a Vatican Nunciature there; he also mentions the threatened dissolution of the Einwohnerwehr, which “has succeeded up to now in holding the Communists at bay.”
English translation of reportOn the same day, Pacelli sends Gasparri two cables about preservation of the Bavarian Legation to the Vatican and Pacelli's note to Hoffmann of Dec. 27th about Concordat negotiations
Jan. 5, 1920 Pope Benedict XV makes Faulhaber a Papal Throne Assistant, a title just lower than Cardinal. English translation of Gasparri’s notice to Pacelli about this honor
Jan. 8, 1920 Pacelli cables Gasparri asking whether the Bavarian Nunciature will continue to exist once the German Reich and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations. English translation
Jan. 9, 1920 Hungarian White Terror forces abduct and kill dozens of Jews in Kecskemét, Hungary, on charges of Communism.
Source: American Jewish Year Book, vol. 22 (1920), p.224.Also on Jan. 9, Pacelli cables Gasparri for instructions concerning the preservation of the Bavarian Legation, prior to a trip by Minister President Hoffmann to Berlin. English translation
Jan. 10, 1920 Allgemeine Rundschau publishes an article critical of Soviet Russia and Bolshevism that does not mention Jews or Judaism. Citation: O. Färber, “Eine christlichsoziale Studienkommission nach Sowjetrußland,” Allgemeine Rundschau 2 (Jan. 10, 1920), pp. 23-24.
The same issue of AR contains an antisemitic article, “Jewish and Christian Labor Leaders,” about Marx, Engels and Lassalle, with brief mention of Eisner and a Räterepublik leader, which does not discuss Russia or any current threat of Bolshevism. Citation: E. Hartl, “Jüdische und christliche Arbeiterführer,” Allgemeine Rundschau 2 (Jan. 10, 1920), pp. 24-25.
Jan. 11, 1920 Nuncio Pacelli reports to Rome on the nature of the Bavarian People’s Party and its secession from the Catholic Center Party of Germany.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translationAlso on Jan. 11, the Munich Archdiocesan newspaper, the Kirchenzeitung, publishes an article on “Bolshevik Hatred of Christ and Christians,” about torture and murder of Catholic priests by the Bolsheviks, with no mention of Judaism. English translation
Jan. 16, 1920 Hungarian government begins deporting Galician Jews en masse. Source: American Jewish Year Book, vol. 22 (1920), pp. 224-225.
Jan. 16, 1920 HPB article “New Year 1920” points to two godless powers, Social Democracy and plutocracy as exemplified by the Entente, which hold power in Germany and internationally; it brands the first as Jewish-Socialism and the second as the Jewish-liberalism of Freemasonry. German original: first page; 84-85; 86-87; 88-89; 90-91; 92-93
Jan. 17, 1920 Documentation Catholique publishes two Vatican documents from mid-1919 focused on German Catholics and German-American Catholics:
Pope Benedict’s letter of July 15, 1919 to the Bishops of GermanyCardinal Gasparri’s letter of July 18, 1919 in the name of the Pope to the Congress of the German-American Association
French original of cover and contents with Pope Benedict XV’s letter to the German Bishops and Cardinal Gasparri’s letter to German-American Catholics, as well as materials from the French Bishops
Jan. 20, 1920 Bavarian Minister President Hoffmann writes Pacelli that the Bavarian Government is prepared to negotiate a new Concordat with the Vatican. English translation
Also on Jan. 20, Bishop Lingg of Augsburg writes Faulhaber advising against the Bishops issuing a protest as to Church-State issues because the Government would take it as merely about losing State subsidies. English translation
Jan. 23, 1920 In Hungary, newly formed National Central Party denounces the “widespread idea that the Jews are to be held collectively responsible for recent events.” Source: American Jewish Year Book, vol. 22 (1920), p.225.
Jan. 24, 1920 Pacelli sends Gasparri a copy of Faulhaber’s pastoral letter for Lent 1920 denouncing democracy, telling Bavarian Catholics that the German revolution is at root not a political issue but a religious and moral issue of Kulturkampf against the Church, conducted by enemies who are forging ever new weapons, and that Catholics must be on guard and not let their weapons get rusty.
English translation of key excerpts
Jan. 27, 1920 Gasparri sends Pacelli the Vatican’s position and fallback position for negotiating with the German Government as to an exchange of ambassadors, Berlin and Rome, and the maintenance of the Nunciature in Munich.
English translation of Gasparri’s instruction to Pacelli
Jan. 28, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano begins a series of front page articles on “The Bolshevik Menace,” saying the Russian Bolshevik Army is preparing to invade Poland in March or April.
Headlines and summaries of such articles appearing on nine days from Jan. 28 through Feb. 26
Jan. 28, 1920 The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, first German edition, is advertised in the Nazi-oriented Munich newspaper Völkischer Beobachter [Völkisch Observer], with a small ad in the paid advertising section of the paper.
Jan. 29, 1920 Faulhaber meets with Georg Escherich, head of the Einwohnerwehr, and agrees that priests can discreetly conduct flag-blessing ceremonies for Einwohnerwehr paramilitary units.
Source: Escherich Diary, 13-14 March 1920, BayHStA V, NL Escherich, 6, Tagebuch, cited in Zuber (2015), pp. 153-154.Fr. Bernhard Stempfle begins to play a leading role in the Einwohnerwehr as publicist, recruiter, organizer, and high level negotiator.
Source: Einwohnerwehr leader Rudolf Kanzler’s book Bayerns Kampf gegen den Bolschewismus: Geschichte der bayerischen Einwohnerwehren (Munich: Parcus, 1931) described specifics of Fr. Stempfle’s work with the Einwohnerwehr in February, March, April, and May 1920 in Austria and Bavaria.
Jan. 31, 1920 Documentation Catholique publishes an article recalling Rome’s conquering of Jerusalem and dispersal of the Jewish people.
The article calls for Christians and Muslims to unite against Zionism and the “invasion” of Palestine by “Jewish floods from Romania and Russia,” while Christians mobilize public opinion worldwide.French original of cover and contents including this précis: “Zionism. - Grave problems instigated in Palestine by Jewish immigration ... The Jewish invasion in Jerusalem... Purchases of land... Precautions to take today and tomorrow: create a public opinion against Zionism, in union among Christians and between Christians and Muslims, etc.”
Feb. 1920 The Protocols of the Elders of Zion appears in English for the first time, published by Eyre & Spottiswoode, publishers for the British Crown.
Sharman Kadish (1992), p.31, says the significance of this translation “can only be grasped against the background of British intervention on the side of the White Russians in the Civil War,” as it was White Russian officers who brought the Protocols to the west, and the translator and publishers were in highly respectable English circles.Historians note that the English version of the Protocols initially received no attention in the British press. Kadish, ibid.; Poliakov (2003), vol. IV, p.210.
Feb. 1920 The Munich-based Jesuit monthly Stimmen der Zeit publishes an article calling for a strong national leader and emphasizing the importance of training persons for such a role.
English translation
Feb. 1920 Czarist Russian emigré in America, Boris Brasol, publishes book Socialism vs. Civilization.
Unlike Brasol’s “Bolshevism and Judaism” concoction, which circulated anonymously shielded by his code name Agent B1, this book, published under his name, does not make extreme claims that Judaism is responsible for revolutionary movements or that Jews are in control of Russian and international Communism, even though the book includes lengthy discussions of Socialism, Marxism and Communism, and their alleged current-day threat to the US and western civilization.Title page of book and next page showing publication dates
Feb. 1, 1920 Fr. Bernhard Stempfle serves from this date until June 20, 1921 as “Pressereferent” [press officer] of the Orka paramilitary group associated with the Einwohnerwehr. Source: Certificate of appreciation from leadership of Einwohnerwehr, in Nachlass Stempfle, Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Munich
Feb. 4, 1920 Nuncio Pacelli, on behalf of the Vatican, transmits to the Bavarian Government a 19-point proposal for a new Bavaria-Vatican Concordat.
Source: Lydia Schmidt, Kultusminister Franz Matt (1920-1926) [Education Minister Franz Matt] (2000), pp. 197-198. German original at online Pacelli-Edition, Document No. 6617
Feb. 7, 1920 Documentation Catholique publishes an address of Pope Benedict XV to the Nobility of Rome (pp. 178-180).
Topic headings include the homage of the nobles to the Pope and “The Indefeasible Obligation: Love of Neighbor, Even Your Enemy of Yesterday.”This issue contains a lengthy post-election review of French press and political discussion about Bolshevism, Socialism, collectivism and radicalism, all of it critical, yet none of it accusing Jews or Judaism of responsibility for these movements. (pp. 195-213)
One article is quoted mentioning Jews, not in connection with left-wing movements, but rather “Bolsheviks of the right: war-profiteers, Jews, ... plutocrats ... whose power is money.” (p.199)
Feb. 8, 1920 Winston Churchill publishes an article claiming that other than Lenin, the leaders of Russian Bolshevism are Jewish, and expressing the desire that Zionism and/or assimilation and nationalism prevail among Jews worldwide, rather than Bolshevism.
W. Churchill, “Zionism versus Bolshevism: A Struggle for the Soul of the Jewish People,” Illustrated Sunday Herald, Feb. 8, 1920Churchill’s distant American relative Marlborough Churchill, head of U.S. Army Intelligence, similarly accepted allegations from Czarist propagandist Boris Brasol that all Russian Bolshevik leaders other than Lenin were Jews; Marlborough took Brasol’s allegations to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, which was also attended by Winston.
Feb. 9, 1920 Gasparri cables the Munich Nunciature saying that Pacelli’s mother is gravely ill and the Pope allows him to travel to Rome. Source: Pacelli-Edition.de, Dokt. No. 9891
Feb. 10, 1920 Msgr. Lorenzo Schioppa, Auditor of the Munich Nunciature, sends Faulhaber the 19 points that were submitted to Hoffmann on Feb. 4 and observes: “Frankly, whether the recommended points will be attainable is another question and hardly can be hoped; but nevertheless one must ask for what is fair and right.” English translation
Feb. 11, 1920 Nuncio Pacelli travels to Rome, arriving shortly after his mother dies, and does not return to Munich until the night of April 11-12.
The online Pacelli-Edition contains Gasparri's telegram of Feb. 9 authorizing Pacelli to travel to Rome, and the Nunciature's telegram explaining the next available train leaves on Feb. 11.
Feb. 14, 1920 Cardinal Gasparri instructs Pacelli to make clear to the Bavarian People’s Party leadership and Bavarian clergy that the Vatican does not favor the secession of Bavaria from the German Reich, stating that “it is the constant principle of the Holy See to stay remote from all purely political questions.” Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
On the same date, Schioppa sends Gasparri Baron Cramer-Klett’s report of his discussions with government figures in Berlin about establishing diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de. and English translationAlso on Feb. 14, La Documentation Catholique in France, quoting from L’Osservatore Romano of Nov. 8, 1919, tells Catholics it is “treason” to vote for Freemasons or Bolsheviks in parliamentary elections. English translation and French original of cover and précis
Feb. 15, 1920 The Minister-President of Bavaria, Johannes Hoffmann, responds to Pacelli in a discouraging fashion, stating that the Vatican’s Concordat proposals will need to be “thoroughly reviewed and evaluated,” and that this will take considerable time.
Hoffmann and the Vatican disagree over Catholic control of government-funded schools, among other issues. See L. Schmidt, above.
Feb. 15, 1920 Munich Kirchenzeitung issue no. 7 contains:
An article entitled “The Old and New Jerusalem” describing God’s fearful judgment on the Jews and their city of Jerusalem, formerly loved by God.
An article saying Freemasonry strives worldwide to take political power, overthrow monarchs, and destroy the Catholic Church, and it is permeated with Jewry and “terrorizes everyone and binds them in chains.”
A set of mandatory instructions entitled “Archbishop’s Decrees” binding on Catholics in the Munich Archdiocese
A report that the “Moslem and Christian Arabs living in Palestine have protested in a memorandum to the Pope against England’s Jew-friendly policy in the Holy Land.”
Feb. 16, 1920 Faulhaber writes the Bavarian Ambassador to the Vatican about his “fight to the finish” to preserve Bavaria's Vatican Embassy as well as the Vatican's Nunciature in Munich. English translation
Feb. 18, 1920 Faulhaber writes Schioppa that Hoffmann will try to establish more onerous conditions for Bavarian dissolution of the State Church via the Reich Government than he could achieve in Bavaria, creating an “exceedingly serious” situation. English translation
Feb. 21, 1920 Einwohnerwehr leaders Escherich and Kanzler, along with Fr. Bernhard Stempfle and Bavarian Volkspartei Landtag delegate F.X. Zahnbrecher, meet with Gustav von Kahr. Source: Kanzler (1931).
Also on Feb. 21, Documentation Catholique gives increased coverage to sources in Germany, including a Bavarian Catholic association, with propaganda about “the fanatical and ferocious offensive directed against them [Christians] by militant Judaism, that eternal enemy of our faith and the doctrines of Christ our Savior and our God!” French original
Feb. 24, 1920 Public launch of the National Socialist (Nazi) German Workers Party by Hitler and others in the Festival Hall of the Hofbräuhaus in Munich.
Nazi Party’s 25-point program announced by Hitler at the event
Feb. 25, 1920 Nazi-oriented Völkischer Beobachter prints brief coverage of Nazi launch event and two longer articles about Bolshevism and Jewry.
Article “A Jewish Secret Document” with similar approach, but different content, to the Protocols. Known as the “Zunder forgery,” this document was published in English in the Sunday Times of London on April 4, 1920.Article “Bolshevism and Jewry”
Kellogg (2005), p.232 describes an article by Dietrich Eckart in February 1920, in his journal In Plain German, quoting this spurious “Jewish Secret Document” to show identity of Judaism and Bolshevism.
Feb. 26, 1920 Faulhaber writes two missives about key Church-State issues centered on the imminent “dissolution” of state established churches in Germany, and the restructuring of schooling:
To Cardinal Bertram, head of the Fulda German Bishops Conference: English translationTo the Bavarian Bishops: English translation
Feb. 28, 1920 Gasparri instructs the Munich Nunciature that Baron Cramer-Klett’s recommendation of Feb. 14th, to accept the German Government’s proposal for diplomatic relations with the Vatican, is acceptable.
English translation
Feb. 29, 1920 Faulhaber’s letter to Prince Wilhelm von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen expresses his “Bavarian lamentations” about current affairs, including the “senile ungraciousness” of the Government, the “terrorism of the parties,” an expected Bolshevik uprising next-door in Austria, and the need for an “external grace” to rescue Germany from free-fall.
English translationAlso on Feb. 29, the Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung begins a new section entitled “Aus Welt und Kirche” [From World and Church]. This issue contains a short article on “The Terrors of Bolshevism in Russia.”
The same issue describes the consolidation of various Catholic newspapers, including Munich’s Katholische Kirchenzeitung, under the Catholic Press Association of Bavaria as their common publisher and manager.
March 1920 Franz Schrönghamer-Heimdal, the most prominent Catholic author promoting the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory in Bavaria in 1919, is forced to resign from Bavaria’s Katholikenzeitung [Catholic Times] after a public denunciation of his propaganda by a Catholic Bavarian count and lawyer.
In his denunciation, Anton Graf von Pestalozza sarcastically argues that in view of Schrönghamer’s propaganda, the Katholikenzeitung “should merge itself with the Völkischer Beobachter.”Schrönghamer-Heimdal, who joined the staff of the Katholikenzeitung in early 1920, goes from there to a similarly short stay as editor of a new monarchist paper, the Bayerische Königsbote [Bavarian Royal Messenger]. Source: Hastings (2010), pp. 80-82.
Schrönghamer also writes in early 1920 a series of articles for the Völkischer Beobachter arguing that Jesus was not a Jew.
By summer 1920 Schrönghamer gives up his 1918-20 career as an antisemitic propagandist and goes back to his earlier career writing Bavarian folk literature.
Schrönghamer later makes a return appearance in the Völkischer Beobachter to “settle accounts” with Graf von Pestalozza, republishing the Count’s denunciation along with Schrönghamer’s rejoinder. Citation: Völkischer Beobachter, Oct. 31, 1920, p.4.
March 1920 Hochland article “Russian Anarchism” suggests that despite Europeans being informed of the details about the Russian Revolution, they do not know its deeper cause and nature: the soul of the Russian people, as described by Russian authors, who reveal the manifold ways that the Russian people are disposed toward anarchy and revolution; contains no reference to Judaism or Jews.
Mar. 1, 1920 Bishop Lingg of Augsburg writes Faulhaber that if the Bavarian Government tries to give the Church her walking papers, the Government will receive its own walking papers. English translation
Mar. 5, 1920 Msgr. Schioppa, in charge of Munich Nunciature in absence of Pacelli, writes Cardinal Gasparri about refuting reports that the Vatican favors the secession of Bavaria from Germany.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 331. - English translation
Mar. 5, 1920 Alfred Rosenberg, White Russian émigré and Nazi ideologist, publishes article in Dietrich Eckart’s Auf Gut Deutsch [In Plain German] referring to “Jewish terror” in Russia.
Kellogg (2005) translates an excerpt of this article: the “most unscrupulous Jewish terror” in Russia “ruins the economy and industry; when all is said and done, it works for stock market speculators and big capitalists.” (p.223.)
Mar. 6, 1920 Documentation Catholique in France becomes the first journal to publish the Bolshevism and Judaism falsification previously peddled unsuccessfully in Britain to the Morning Post in fall 1919, and previously received by the head of US Army Intelligence in November 1918 from its author, Czarist Russian intelligence officer and propagandist Boris Brasol.
English translation of article “The Jews are the Principal Factors of Worldwide Bolshevism”Cover of Documentation Catholique with summary of article:
La Documentation Catholique Also on this date, the Munich Nunciature reports to Cardinal Gasparri that Baron Cramer-Klett has been informed of the Vatican’s intentions concerning diplomatic relations with Germany. English translation
Mar. 7, 1920 Munich Kirchenzeitung says the Pope has “implicitly condemned” the Versailles Treaty.
English translation of “Vatican Review” sectionThe same section mentions French protectorate over the Holy Land as a competitor to Britain’s promotion of a Jewish state in Palestine.
The “Vatican Review” section also describes a “ruthless culture war” waged against the Church by the “Czech powers that be.”
Mar. 9, 1920 Nuncio Pacelli replies “sharply” to Bavarian President Hoffmann about Bavaria-Vatican Concordat.
From Rome, Pacelli states that if Bavaria seeks to violate the Church’s rights in the school question, he will not be able to defend Bavaria against French efforts to include a former portion of Bavaria (now in the Saar district under League of Nations governance) in French diocesan control under a French Catholic Bishop. See L. Schmidt, p.198.
Mar. 10, 1920 Faulhaber writes Ambassador Ritter zu Groenesteyn praising Pacelli, hoping he is not moved [presumably to Berlin], and criticizing the Bavarian Government. English translation
Also on March 10, Faulhaber writes Bertram naming the Bavarian members for a joint commission, priests Kiefl, Harth and Stahler, also accusing Hoffmann of a “sneaky maneuver” to change Bavaria’s schools into non-denominational schools. English translation
Mar. 12, 1920 Matthias Erzberger resigns as Reich Finance Minister after accusations against him of perjury and tax evasion are endorsed by a judge at the conclusion of Erzberger’s lawsuit against Karl Helfferich for libel. Governmental investigations later exonerate Erzberger in June and August 1921.
Mar. 13-17, 1920 Nationalists and monarchists attempt unsuccessfully to overthrow the Weimar Republic, in the “Kapp Putsch.”
L’Osservatore Romano’s coverage in English translationDetailed account by the Auditor of the Munich Nunciature dated March 25, in Pacelli’s absence
Mar. 14, 1920 Allies of the Kapp Putsch stage a successful coup in Bavaria and install Gustav von Kahr, a monarchist, as head of the Bavarian government; Franz Matt becomes Bavarian Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs, and Ernst Pöhner becomes head of police.
Georg Escherich, head of the Bavarian Einwohnerwehr and a central figure in the Kahr Putsch, has his first meeting on March 14th after the Putsch succeeds, with Archbishop Faulhaber. Source: Escherich Diary, 13-14 March 1920, BayHStA V, NL Escherich, 6, Tagebuch, cited in Zuber (2015), pp. 153-154.In the aftermath of the Kahr Putsch, extremist rightwing elements, including General Erich Ludendorff, various White Russian emigrés, and Kapp’s military commanders, including Capt. Hermann Ehrhardt, find refuge in Munich. Ehrhardt’s brigade in northern Germany was the most disciplined and effective Freikorps fighting force; its members displayed swastikas on their helmets. Maser (1965), p. 213.
A violent counter-revolutionary group called Organisation Consul - under Ehrhardt as Consul - subsequently forms with its headquarters in Munich; the organization is also known as Feme, named for a medieval Teutonic secret quasi-judicial institution.
Mar. 13-15, 1920 Lorenzo Schioppa, the Auditor of the Munich Nunciature, sends Gasparri a series of five brief cables about the Kapp Putsch and the situation in Munich. English translations of the cables: first - second - third - fourth - fifth
Mar. 15, 1920 Auditor Schioppa sends Gasparri a lengthy report about the Kapp Putsch. English translation
Mar. 16, 1920 Historisch-politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland article “Views of Reason and Faith upon the Puzzles and Troubles of the Day” says that defenseless Central Europe is being plundered by innumerable English and American adventurers, Christian and Jewish merchant-agents, and that Jews and their allies are exploiting currency fluctuations to plunder entire countries.
A footnote on the first page identifies the author of this article and of the 18-part series “Bloody Review of Ideas and Events” as a Bavarian priest, Fr. Wilhelm Maier, who had recently passed away. In this article, as in his previous writings in the HPB, his antisemitic statements focus primarily on “Jewish capitalism” and do not attempt to explain Russian Communism as Jewish. German original: pages 389; 390-91; 392-93; 394-95; 396-97; 398-99; 400-01
Mar. 16-17, 1920 Schioppa sends Gasparri a series of three cables about developments in Munich. First cable - second - third
Mar. 18, 1920 Schioppa sends Gasparri a detailed report about the Kapp Putsch and its failure. English translation
Mar. 19, 1920 Schioppa sends a further report to Gasparri about the Kapp Putsch and the change of government in Bavaria. English translation
Mar. 25, 1920 Schioppa reports to Gasparri on the Kapp Putsch and its aftermath. English translation
On the same day Schioppa reports that the Bavarian People’s Party, by a 68-60 vote in the Landtag, has succeeded in overturning Hoffmann’s school policy. English translation
Mar. 26, 1920 Schioppa cables Gasparri that the Reich Government requests the Vatican’s agreement to the appointment of Diego von Bergen as the first Ambassador from Germany to the Holy See. English translation
Mar. 27, 1920 Hermann Müller of the Social Democratic Party becomes Chancellor of the German Reich.
Also on March 27th, Documentation Catholique publishes a report by English Cardinal Bourne about his fact-finding mission to Palestine and the Middle East.
Apr. 2, 1920 In Toka, Hungary, White Terror forces attack and kill 300 Jews. Source: American Jewish Year Book, vol. 22, p.226.
Apr. 3, 1920 The leading Catholic nobleman of Germany, Prince Alois zu Löwenstein, reports in the Allgemeine Rundschau about a meeting of leading Catholic nobles of Germany, which adopted resolutions favoring monarchy and disfavoring aspects of the Weimar Republic, including a resolution to remove “the influence of racially foreign elements,” and states that the Catholic Center Party stands against all antisemitism. Löwenstein, “Der katholische Adel Deutschlands und die Politik” [The Catholic Nobility of Germany and Politics], Allgemeine Rundschau, No. 14 (Apr. 3, 1920), pp. 184-185.
Also on April 3rd, Documentation Catholique publishes a letter of Cardinal Gasparri, Vatican Secretary of State, along with a reprinted article from L’Osservatore Romano.
Apr. 4, 1920 The “From World and Church” section of the Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung attacks Austrian Jewry as “a great danger to the Austrian Catholic Church” and names various Jews allegedly holding key positions in the Austrian military. English translation
Also on April 4th, the Sunday Times of London publishes an English translation of the Jewish-Bolshevik “secret document” that appeared in the Völkischer Beobachter on Feb. 25, 1920.
Apr. 4-7, 1920 Violent attacks by Arabs against Jews in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem result in several deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Apr. 10, 1920 Documentation Catholique publishes a joint pastoral letter of the 101 Archbishops and Bishops of the United States.
Apr. 10, 1920 Allen Dulles, as a young US State Department special envoy in Germany, writes a situation report from Munich describing the political-religious situation of Bavaria.
Summary and excerpts
Apr. 11, 1920 The Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung promotes the Jewish-Communist myth, endorses the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and arouses fear and hatred in an article entitled “Jewish Imperialism.”
English translation and German original The article cites and summarizes the Jewish-Bolshevism article that appeared in Documentation Catholique on March 6th.
During the night of April 11th, Eugenio Pacelli arrives back in Munich after a two-month stay in Rome following the death of his mother. His telegram to Gasparri reporting his safe arrival is in the online Pacelli-Edition, Document No. 6779.
L’Osservatore Romano gives special attention to Germany on this day, with 17 headlines and short news items about Germany on the front page.
Italian original top part of page, two right-side columnsItalian original bottom part of page, three right-side columns
Apr. 14, 1920 Pacelli cables Gasparri saying that Faulhaber implores Vatican intervention with the Entente to prevent forced dissolution of the Einwohnerwehr, “our only defense against the Bolshevik menace.” English translation
Apr. 15, 1920 Poland invades Ukraine and advances rapidly toward Kyiv and Vinnytsia (the seat of a Ukrainian government under Simon Petliura allied with the Polish military).
Apr. 16, 1920 Dietrich Eckart writes an article in his journal Auf gut Deutsch about sadistic “Jewish Bolshevik” rule in Russia. Kellogg (2005), p.232.
Apr. 18, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a front-page story praising the Catholic press of Bavaria, and holding it up as an example for other countries.
Translation of article “The Catholic Press in Bavaria,” which includes mention of the Münchener Katholische KirchenzeitungThe article emphasizes the importance of the Catholic press in Bavaria for the “Christian education of the people.”
Apr. 18-30, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a series of articles about the San Remo Conference.
At this conference, the Allies decide to give Britain a mandate to govern Palestine for the purpose of establishing a Jewish homeland there, and to give France a mandate to govern Syria and Lebanon.The Vatican newspaper describes lobbying by Zionists to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, including a message from the Belgian Zionist Federation to British Prime Minister Lloyd George expressing the
conviction that it is a matter of urgency to settle definitively the political future of Palestine and to affirm the mandate of Great Britain under the control of the League of Nations, so that the restoration of Palestine as a national Jewish entity can be implemented without further delays, in conformity with the commitments assumed toward the Jewish people by Great Britain, by Italy and by the other Allied powers supported by the United States of America in conformity, in sum, with the ardent and irresistible will of the entire Jewish people.The articles contain no criticism of the Allies or the Zionists.
Translated headlines and details of articles from L’Osservatore Romano
Apr. 22, 1920 Nazi-oriented Völkischer Beobachter in Munich devotes its entire front page to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
English translation of banner headline, intro paragraph, and section headingsGerman original of page one
Apr. 25, 1920 Sir Herbert Samuel accepts the post of British High Commissioner for Palestine, appointed by Prime Minister David Lloyd George.
Apr. 26, 1920 Völkischer Beobachter publishes the “Jewish Imperialism” article with same text that appeared in Munich Kirchenzeitung on Apr. 11, 1920.
German originalThe “Jewish Imperialism” article appears alongside an advertisement “urgently recommending” the Protocols and identifying a bookstore in Munich where they can be purchased.
Immediately below is an advertisement for an antisemitic book by Schrönghamer-Heimdal with an endorsement from Dietrich Eckhart.
Apr. 27, 1920 Hitler incorporates the Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy theory about Russia for the first time into one of his speeches, saying that “only the Jew” is responsible for what has happened in Russia.
English translationEnglish translations of excerpts of Hitler speeches on Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy in subsequent months
Apr. 29, 1920 Völkischer Beobachter publishes a call for revenge against Munich’s Jewish community.
English translation of article accusing Jews of collective guilt for the murder of hostages by Jewish Communists in Munich one year earlier
Apr. 30, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano again praises Munich Catholicism in a lead page one story.
Headline and beginning of article about implementation of encyclical Rerum Novarum by organization based in Munich
Apr. 30, 1920 Bavarian government imposes a 10-day publication ban on Völkisch Beobachter for incitement to violence.
Translated text of ban as reprinted later in the Völkisch Beobachter
May 2, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung accuses Jews of conspiracy against the “Christian State” and proclaims “eternal war ... between Christian culture and Jewish imperialism” in article “Not Jew-Hatred but Christian-Defense!”
English translation and German original: first page and second pageThe same issue contains an article in praise of St. Boniface, the “Apostle to Germany” in the 8th century, for his loyalty to Rome.
See the papal encyclical on St. Boniface, May 14, 1919, above.
May 6, 1920 Lead article in L’Osservatore Romano features the Munich Archdiocese, with praise of Munich Archbishop Faulhaber and Nuncio Pacelli.English translationThe Vatican newspaper similarly lavished front-page praise upon the Munich Archdiocese, its press, and its leaders, on April 18 and May 7, 1920, in the midst of the Archdiocesan newspaper’s promotion of the Jewish-Communist myth and other extreme antisemitic propaganda; in doing this, L’Osservatore Romano did not mention Judaism or Communism.
May 7, 1920 Lead article in L’Osservatore Romano focuses on Munich, with extended praise for the Bavarian Catholic Press Association, the publisher of the Munich Kirchenzeitung.
English translation
L’Osservatore Romano reports on May 12: “The Polish advance has strongly brought out the national Russian spirit and has certainly weakened the authority of the Soviet Government. From these two new factors in Russian politics, there could arise, in the not distant future, a situation of great political interest for Eastern Europe.”
May 8, 1920 Times of London publishes article about the Protocols and editorializes about “The Jewish Peril, a Disturbing Pamphlet: Call for Inquiry.”
May 9, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung publishes a front page article repeating the Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy theory and calling for “lawful measures” against Jewry.
English translation and German original: front page and second pageThe measures advocated, “Germany for the Germans” - not Jews - Christian people may not be governed by Jews - stopping Jewish economic “exploitation” and “profiteering” - and combatting the "Jewish spirit” of “materialism” - correspond in large part with demands in the Nazi Party program of February 1920.
The “Vatican Review” section of this issue says the San Remo conference that gave Britain the Mandate over Palestine “interfered directly with the rights of the Pope” and further says: “It is really the Pope who will yet have the last word in this matter.”
Spring 1920 First American edition of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is published in Boston.
May 15, 1920 Civiltà Cattolica dismisses reports of “White Terror” in Hungary, calling the previous government a “Jewish-Communist tyranny” and defending the current one as “men of order.”
English translationThe White Terror involved the widespread internment, deportation and killing of Jews in Hungary based on the assertion that the short-lived Hungarian Communist government of 1919 was “Jewish” and that Jews were Communists. Hanebrink (2006), pp. 83-89.
May 17, 1920 The Münchener Post reports that the Vatican Secretary of State has sent a diplomatic note to the German Government for the purpose of erecting an Apostolic Nunciature in Berlin and establishing diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the German Reich.
May 20, 1920 Eugenio Pacelli asks the Vatican for a dispensation from the requirement, reported in the press, that he move to Berlin.
Italian original of encrypted telegram at online Pacelli-Edition - English translation
May 22, 1920 The Catholic Bavarian People’s Party publishes a full-page election appeal in the Allgemeine Rundschau, openly rejecting the Weimar Constitution and the Versailles Treaty. English translation
May 23, 1920 On Pentecost Sunday, Pope Benedict XV issues his encyclical Pacem Dei Munus, an appeal for universal love and peace, which also expresses his “many bitter anxieties” in the wake of the signing of peace treaties, because “the germs of former enmities remain.”
May 23, 1920 The Münchener Post, the Social Democrat newspaper of Munich, speaks out against antisemitic propagandizing as a contradiction of true Christianity and the spirit of Pentecost.
English translation
May 25, 1920 Gasparri informs Pacelli that the Pope cannot rescind his decision to transfer Pacelli to Berlin, but allows him to stay in Munich temporarily.
Italian original of encrypted telegram at online Pacelli-Edition - English translation
May 27-28-29, 1920 The Münchener Post runs more articles on Catholicism, on antisemitic propagandizing in Bavaria, and on Police Chief Pöhner’s publication ban on the Völkischer Beobachter for calling for a pogrom.
English translationsGerman originals: May 27 - May 28 - May 29 entitled „Folgen der antisemitischen Pogromhetze“
In its multiple articles on these subjects in May 1920, the Münchener Post does not criticize the Munich Katholische Kirchenzeitung.
May 29, 1920 The leadership of the Catholic Center Party publishes a two-page election appeal in the Allgemeine Rundschau, contrasting sharply with the previous week’s appeal by the Catholic Bavarian People’s Party. English translation
May 1920 Henry Ford’s newspaper in Michigan, the Dearborn Independent, begins to publish the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in serial form.
May 1920 Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster’s new book My Struggle Against the Militaristic and Nationalistic Germany: Perspectives on German Identity and on the Reconstruction of a New Germany contains this prophetic statement:
“Germany will meet its final downfall if the German nationalists succeed in stirring up wider circles in Germany to brutalize Jewish elements.”Citation: Foerster, Mein Kampf gegen das militaristische und nationalistische Deutschland: Gesichtspunkte zur deutschen Selbsterkenntnis und zum Aufbau eines neuen Deutschland (Zurich, 1920), pp. 252-53
By this time Foerster had lost much of his previous influence and standing among Bavarian Catholic priests and educators, due to public attacks upon him over the preceding two years by Franz X. Kiefl, a priest close to Faulhaber. Cf. the HPB’s review of Foerster’s December 1918 book World Politics and World Conscience and related discussion with citation to Hausberger (2003), pp. 167-171.
A summary of Kiefl’s attacks and Foerster’s response, with reference to the effect upon Catholic educators and others previously influenced by Foerster’s pedagogic and other writings, is found in the Allgemeine Rundschau of Jan. 31, 1920: German original of article by University of Munich Prof. Joseph Göttler, entitled “F.W. Förster’s Christianity.”
Spring 1920 The book Deutscher Geist und Judenhass [The German Spirit and Jew-Hatred] appears with condemnations of antisemitism by hundreds of prominent Germans, but with antisemitic statements by two Catholic Bishops from Bavaria, one of whom, the Bishop of Passau, associates Jewry with Bolshevism.
Bishops’ statements in translationThe same book contains a strong statement condemning antisemitism by former German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger, who emphasizes that German chauvinists are using antisemitic incitement to distract from their own guilt - which included intransigence leading to abject defeat; their complicity also included inciting Russian Jews to revolt against the Czar from August 1914 on, and transporting Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks from Swiss exile into Russia in April 1917.
These statements were made in response to a request for statements against antisemitism, sent in 1919 to German political, academic, and cultural figures, with the support of the President of Germany. Further contents in translation
June 2 and 6, 1920 Hitler develops the Jewish-Bolshevik theme in speeches at the Bürgerbräu Beer Hall in Munich.
Excerpts in translation
June 3, 1920 Pacelli reports great controversy in Germany about the establishment of a Nunciature in Berlin, and recommends the Vatican proceed in this regard with “maximum circumspection and prudence.”
Italian original at online Pacelli-Edition - English translation
June 5, 1920 The Allgemeine Rundschau publishes a poem calling for a strong national Führer to strike down domestic enemies and raise the German people up from humiliation and bondage. English translation
June 6, 1920 German Reichstag nationwide election results in the following party representation in the national legislature:
Social Democrats 22%, Independent Socialists 18%, German National People’s Party 15%, German People’s Party 14%, Center Party 14%, German Democratic Party 8%, Bavarian People’s Party 4%, Communist Party 2%, others 3%English translation of Nuncio Pacelli’s report to Cardinal Gasparri of June 10 about the elections - Italian original and German summary at www.Pacelli-Edition.de
June 7, 1920 Gasparri cables Pacelli with instructions to have Erzberger’s Bishop order him “forcefully and with a loud voice” to desist from political activity.
English translation of telegram - Italian original at online Pacelli-EditionErzberger’s exclusion from the German Government is the pre-condition for the Catholic Bavarian People’s Party to cooperate with the Catholic Center Party in the German Reichstag, according to a report from Pacelli to Gasparri on June 12th. English translation - Italian original at online Pacelli-Edition
On June 16th, Pacelli reports to Gasparri that Erzberger’s Bishop has strongly exhorted him, and that Erzberger agrees he will “remain apart from everything” and will not accept a government position. English translation - Italian original at online Pacelli-Edition
June 9, 1920 The Völkischer Beobachter publishes a piece on “Catholics and the Jewish Question,” which accuses the head of the Bavarian Catholic Press Association of betraying the fight against the Jews by renouncing antisemitism at a meeting of the Israelite Community of Munich.
English translation
June 9 to July 14, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano runs a series of eight front-page articles attacking Zionism with respect to Palestine.
English translationsTranslation of June 16 lead article on “Palestine and Zionism” with headings “Systematic Invasion” and “A Dangerous Policy”
Second article on June 16 front page, accusing Jewish leaders of “centuries-long hostility” against Catholics and raising the specter of Jewish “hegemony” over the Holy Land
July 14 article quoting the “eminent Morning Post” and its attack on the British appointment of a Jew to govern Palestine
June 13, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung describes the Polish invasion of Russia as driving a nail into Bolshevism.
German original of article “Ueber den Bolschewismus” in the section “From World and Church”The same page features a racially oriented article about religious trends among African Americans.
June 16, 1920 The Catholic journal Historisch-Politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland, based in Munich, publishes a detailed article on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Whether or not the Protocols are authentic, the article concludes, in either event they “exude throughout the Jewish spirit” and “completely reveal” the Jews’ “striving for world domination.”The article says Jewry controls Communism, Socialism and capitalism for the purpose of creating a Jewish worldwide dictatorship and reign of terror.
Openly embracing racial antisemitism, the article asserts that the threatening imperialistic impulses of Jews are “common characteristics of the race, alive in the blood, working instinctively.”
German original: page 741 - 742 - 743 - 744 - 745 - 746 - 747 - 748 - 749 - 750 - 751 - 752 - 753 - 754
The Historisch-Politische Blätter was the “most influential journal of German Catholicism,” according to the Bavarian Historical Lexicon.
June 18, 1920 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that the German Government understands that after he presents his credentials as Vatican Nuncio to Berlin, he will return to Munich until the conclusion of the Bavarian Concordat negotiations.
Italian original at online Pacelli-Edition - English translation
June 21, 1920 Constantin Fehrenbach of the Catholic Center Party becomes Chancellor of the German Reich.
June 25, 1920 Sir Herbert Samuel, on his way to Palestine, goes to Rome and has an audience with Pope Benedict XV.
The Pope tells Samuel he was initially concerned by his appointment but is now reassured by Samuel’s public commitments to religious toleration and liberty, and by his recognition of the interests of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. Sergio Minerbi, The Vatican and Zionism, p.32.Also on June 25th, Pacelli sends Gasparri words from Archbishop Schulte of Cologne expressing gratitude that Pacelli will not be transferred to Berlin until the Bavarian Concordat negotiations are concluded. Italian original - English translation
June 27, 1920 Cardinal Gasparri tells a French diplomat at the Vatican that Samuel is going to Palestine for the sole purpose of supporting Zionism. Minerbi, p.138, citing French Foreign Ministry Archives.
Also on June 27th, the Völkischer Beobachter publishes a further article on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, arguing that regardless of the disputed authenticity of these meeting minutes, they are a true reflection of “the Jewish spirit of power-greed, money-greed, and destruction.” German original - English translation
June 28, 1920 The Bavarian Government provides a special salon car for Nuncio Pacelli’s trip to Berlin as new Nuncio to Germany.
L’Osservatore Romano’s reports of July 14 and 15 on Nuncio Pacelli’s new appointment, his train, and his speech
June 30, 1920 Sir Herbert Samuel arrives in Jaffa as British High Commissioner for Palestine and proceeds to the administrative capital, Jerusalem.
Sir Herbert Samuel’s memoirs describing the poverty, dereliction, and lawlessness that he found in Palestine upon his arrival
July 1, 1920 Fritz Gerlich becomes Editor-in-Chief, under new ownership, of the largest Munich newspaper, the Münchner Neueste Nachrichten: Süddeutsche Zeitung, as seen in the masthead on page one that day stating “Hauptschriftleitung: Dr. Fritz Gerlich.”
July 4, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung article says “Jews are now calling Palestine ‘the land of Israel.’”
The article goes on to say: “May the Lord God thwart these two crown-pretenders [Jews and Muslims] and bestow the Holy Land upon the Christians!”Another article in the same issue describes developments in Czechoslovakia as a grave threat to the Catholic Church.
July 14, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano reports that passions in Palestine “have been extraordinarily inflamed by bold-spirited Zionists and the animosity they have brought from Central Europe.”
Fuller translation
July 20, 1920 The Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem issues a pastoral letter expressing “most serious anxiety” over the changes contemplated for Palestine.
Patriarch Luigi Barlassina, claiming to speak as pastor for the entire non-Jewish population of Palestine, says their “unanimous voice” is: “Let Palestine be internationalized rather than someday be the servant of Zionism.” Minerbi, p.141.
July 21, 1920 Hitler declares that the Jews rule Soviet Russia. Excerpts of speech in translation
July 23, 1920 New Editor-in-Chief Fritz Gerlich explains on page one of the Münchner Neueste Nachrichten that he is publishing a response by a leading Bavarian Jewish businessman to an antisemitic statement published in the MNN in June.
The response describes the “hatred and division” directed against fellow Jewish citizens in Bavaria during the recent election campaign, but does not mention the role of the Archdiocesan newspaper. Second page of responseAlso on July 23, High Commissioner Samuel, at the invitation of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which Jews had previously not been allowed to enter.
July 25, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung article on the Holy Land reports that the Christians and Muslims there have formed a union to “represent their common interests.”
The article says it is “deplorable” that Catholics worldwide have not mobilized to oppose Zionism.This inactivity by Catholics is the reason that “the Holy See could only raise and succeed with modest demands at San Remo.”
July 25 to mid-August, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano reports almost daily on the Russian-Polish War.
Translations of headlines and excerpts on the “War of Terror” in Poland with “Bolshevism at the Gates of Central Europe”Poland’s invasion of Ukraine in April 1920 had enabled the Bolshevik Russian Government to rally the nation, including some Czarist elements, to fight in unison for Mother Russia. By early August a Russian counterattack was approaching Warsaw and threatening to continue into a nearly defenseless Germany.
In mid-August the Polish Army, under General Pilsudski, routed the Red Army near Warsaw, ending the Bolshevik threat to Poland and Central Europe.
July 1920 The Catholic Bishops of Poland send a letter to their fellow Bishops worldwide imploring help against Soviet Russia.
The letter contains a paragraph asserting that Bolshevism is directed by a race that controls gold and the banks, that is “driven by the age-old imperialistic impulse that courses through their veins,” and that is “now directly undertaking the final subjugation of nations under the yoke of their tyranny”; Bolshevism is “the living embodiment and manifestation of the Antichrist on earth.” Hanebrink (2018), p.26.Civiltà Cattolica publishes, three months later, a fuller version of the Polish Bishops’ letter, with a different version of this paragraph, referring in more veiled terms to the psychology of those who control Bolshevism, rather than to a race with imperialistic impulses.
Aug. 1, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano reports in detail on the entry of the new British High Commissioner for Palestine, Sir Herbert Samuel, into Jerusalem.
The paper expresses concern that, contrary to the “noble ideals” of President Woodrow Wilson for self-determination of peoples, Palestine is now being ruled by an English Jew.Translation of article saying Zionists reported that Samuel received loud “vivas” and acclamations from the local Christian and Muslim population, giving him what some London papers called a “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem.
On the same day, the Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung reports on Czechoslovakia making July 6th a national holiday in honor of John Hus, who was burned at the stake by Catholic powers in 1415. English translation
Aug. 4, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano reports on a July 30 speech by Cardinal Bourne, the Archbishop of Westminster (London), challenging British policy in Palestine and the prospect of "a Zionist dominion" being installed there.
English translation
Aug. 6, 1920 Hitler gives a speech claiming that 430 of the 478 People’s Deputies who have governing power in the Soviet Union are Jews.
Excerpt in translation
Aug. 10, 1920 Treaty of Sèvres is signed, containing the peace terms between Ottoman Turkey and the Allies.
The treaty includes the British Mandate for Palestine agreed at San Remo in April 1920, but it never goes into effect, because of Kemal Ataturk’s overthrow of the Ottoman Government and repudiation of the treaty.
Aug. 13, 1920 Hitler claims that 90% of the Soviet Russian leadership is Jewish. Excerpt in translation
Aug. 15, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung article highlights “The Danger to Christianity in Palestine” posed by Zionism.
English translation
Aug. 16, 1920 Polish army defeats Soviet Communist invading army outside Warsaw.
In the days leading up to this decisive battle, the only foreign diplomats who remained in Warsaw, according the L’Osservatore Romano on August 16-17, page one, were Vatican Nuncio Achille Ratti (later Pope Pius XI, 1922-1939), the Italian Ambassador to Poland, and the American Chargé d’Affaires.
Following the decisive Polish victory, Jews are subjected to massacres, rapes and pillaging by advancing Ukrainian and Polish forces. Ibid., pp. 111-112.
Aug. 16-17, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano runs a lengthier and more inflammatory report of Cardinal Bourne’s July 30 speech as its lead story on page one.
The story includes a bold heading, “The Zionist Peril,” with accusations that “numerous groups of Jews” are unassimilated in Europe and “can constitute domains of dissidents and agitators.” The Vatican newspaper does not yet explicitly equate Jews with Bolsheviks.
Aug. 18, 1920 Nuncio Pacelli reports to Rome on the political situation in Germany and Bolshevism.
English translation - Italian original and German summary at www.Pacelli-Edition.deVentresca (2013), p.57, quotes Pacelli in this report referring to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles as an “international absurdity.”
Aug. 19, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano introduces antisemitic propaganda about Jewish Bolsheviks in recently recaptured Kiev.
The article reports that Jewish judges, with avid participation of Jewish women, tortured and killed priests, both Catholic and Orthodox.In the Vatican newspaper’s dozens of articles about the Bolshevik menace in 1920, this appears to be the first article that focuses on Jews.
Aug. 22, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung cover story describes a Cardinal exhorting English Catholics to lobby the British Government against the “Zionist danger” in Palestine, calling this a model for Catholicism worldwide.
English translation
Aug. 28, 1920 The “World Review” section of the Allgemeine Rundschau explains how essential Orgesch, the Einwohnerwehr under Georg Escherich, is to the defense against Bolshevism.
English translation
Aug. 31, 1920 Hitler gives a speech about Jewish-Bolshevism with denunciations of several concepts and organizations that were bêtes noires from a traditional ultramontane Roman Catholic perspective:
Translation of excerpts featuring:(a) the “proposed Zionist State of Jerusalem”
(b) underminers of “the social concept” and “the common good”
(c) the “Free from Rome Movement”
(d) the Alliance Israélite of France
(e) the Freemasons
Sept. 5, 1920 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper, the Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung, runs article on “Jewish Immigrant Shirkers” in Palestine.
English translation
Sept. 11, 1920 Documentation Catholique publishes article “The Jewish Peril Expands.”
English translation
Sept. 20, 1920 Hitler denounces “liberty equality fraternity” and says Soviet Russia is “heaven” for Jews. Excerpt in translation
Sept. 22, 1920 Hungarian National Assembly passes an antisemitic quota law, limiting Jews to 6% of annual university classes.
Source: Hanebrink (2006), p.83 (describing this as “the first anti-Jewish law in postwar Europe”).Catholic Bishop Ottokár Prohászka says the law is not antisemitism but “racial self-defense.” Ibid., quoting in translation from speech of Sept. 16, 1920 in National Assembly.
Sept. 23, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano publishes the first of several articles about the Polish-Russian War and Bolshevism, with no mention of Jews.
Translated headlines and summary
Oct. 2, 1920 Civiltà Cattolica publishes a lengthy article about the Polish-Russian war, highlighting the horrors of Bolshevism and the threat to all of Europe that was turned back at the gates of Warsaw by the Polish victory.
The article reprints at length a pastoral letter of the Bishops of Poland calling Bolshevism the “manifestation on earth of the spirit of the Antichrist,” but omits a passage from the pastoral letter saying the Jewish race controls Bolshevism to gain world rule.The article identifies Poland as a continuing bulwark against Soviet Communism.
Oct. 3, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung writes of Bolshevik Russia and “its current Jewish powers that be,” who are “well known to belong, without exception, to Freemasonry.”
English translationThe same page states that the “Czech culture war” against the Church is becoming systematic.
Oct. 9, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano runs a lengthy “in Palestine” article.
Translation of article including the following features:(a) The British Government has “entrusted the custody of the Holy Land” to a Jew, who is being called “The Prince of Israel” by the Jews of the Holy Land.
(b) That Jew, British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel, has recently been “solemnly received” in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
(c) These developments are contrasted to an agreement in 1916 between France and Britain to internationalize the Holy Land.
Oct. 11, 1920 Press survey by the Italian Foreign Office concludes that the Vatican is conducting a press campaign against Zionism.
Source: Minerbi, p.143, citing Italian Foreign Office Archives.
Oct. 15, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano features side-by-side lead stories, “Zionism and Palestine: Serious Criticisms and Protests” and “A Peril.”
The type of peril is specified in a bold heading: “Jewish Peril.”The text of the article identifies Judaism with Bolshevism in Russia, and claims a worldwide Jewish peril, illustrated by excerpts from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
The adjacent article on Zionism in Palestine equates Jewish immigrants with Bolsheviks, claims they seek to “destroy all the sacred vestiges of the Holy Places,” and charges High Commissioner Samuel with giving Zionist agents “free reign” even while they “are growing daily in their audacity and insolence.”
Oct. 17, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung reports the a new Vatican Nuncio to Bavaria, Archbishop Marchetti, is en route to Munich via the United States and Rome.
In fact Francesco Marchetti-Salvaggiani was Nuncio to Venezuela at this time, and was named Nuncio to Austria in December 1920. Archbishop Pacelli, even though he was named Nuncio to all of Germany in June 1920, remained based in Munich for the next five years, moving to Berlin in August 1925. It does not appear that Marchetti-Salvaggiani or anyone else took over from Pacelli the post of Nuncio to Bavaria during those five years.
Oct. 23, 1920 Baron Cramer-Klett alerts Pacelli that the French plan to compel the dissolution of the Einwohnerwehr, a large armed paramilitary force in Bavaria that constituted a violation of the Versaille Treaty's limits on German military strength.
English translationPacelli forwards to Rome Cramer-Klett's request that the Pope intervene to prevent the dissolution of the Einwohnerwehr. Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document Nos. 341 and 3434
Oct.-Nov. 1920 Secretive extremist organization named Aufbau [Reconstruction] is formed with headquarters in Munich, for the purpose of overthrowing the Weimar Republic and Russian Communism. Aufbau’s first secretary was Max von Scheubner-Richter, a Czarist Russian exile whom Hitler described after his death in the November 1923 Beerhall Putsch as the most indispensable Nazi. Aufbau’s members included many prominent White Russian exiles, and several early Nazis close to Hitler in addition to Scheubner-Richter, such as Alfred Rosenberg and Max Amann.
Aufbau promoted Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory and the Protocols and maintained close contacts with Boris Brasol, the author of the “Bolshevism and Judaism” falsification that came to print on March 6, 1920 in La Documentation Catholique and April 11, 1920 in the Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung.Aufbau’s president and major funder in the early 1920s was Baron Theodor von Cramer-Klett, whose relationship with Nuncio Pacelli, Cardinal Gasparri, Pope Benedict XV and Cardinal Faulhaber is seen in Timeline entries on July 25, 1919, Aug. 18, 1919, Sept. 15, 1919, Feb. 14, 1920, Oct. 23, 1920, Nov. 21, 1920, Nov. 13, 1921, Dec. 21, 1921 and Apr. 26, 1923.
Aufbau became more public in May-June 1921 with a five-day conference at Bad Reichenhall in Bavaria. Some leading figures of Aufbau have been implicated in the assassination of German Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau on June 24, 1922.
Source: Kellogg (2005), pp. 1-16, 109-149, 218.
Nov. 7, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano article “Zionism and Palestine” says again that “the Jews of the Holy Land” are calling Sir Herbert Samuel “The Prince of Israel.”
The article says that Muslims and Christians are becoming increasingly fervent anti-Zionists because "it is a matter of life and death, since the tranquil possession of their goods and exercise of their civil rights are being threatened by an ever more powerful and intolerant Zionist organization under the protection of the Governor."
Nov. 20, 1920 Civiltà Cattolica begins a three-part series of putative news reports about Jewish-Bolshevik terrorism against civilians in the town of Vinnytsia, Ukraine. English translations
During 1919-1920 there had actually been a terrorism campaign against Jews in Ukraine, as White Russian and Ukrainian nationalist forces murdered tens of thousands of Jews in a precursor to the Holocaust.Hitler chose Vinnytsia, a city 250 km southwest of Kiev, as his Eastern Front headquarters during 1942 and spent several months there beginning July 16, 1942.
Nov. 19, 1920 Hitler speech says in Russia, Bolsheviks govern under Jewish rule. Excerpt in translation
Nov. 20, 1920 Documentation Catholique runs articles about Bolshevism and anti-clericalism in Czechoslovakia.
Précis and article on "Marxism of Masaryk" (founder of the country) and BolshevismArticle on Slovakia, including Catholic Bishops’ threat of secession by Slovakia from Czechoslovakia
Nov. 21, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung publishes article “A Pointed Warning to the Jews,” associating Jews with Bolshevism and containing a veiled threat of pogroms.
The article says if pogroms occur, it will have been the Jews who brought them upon themselves.The same issue claims that the Zionist movement is bringing Bolshevik immigrants to Palestine.
Also on Nov. 21st, Gasparri informs Pacelli that the Pope, upon the proposal of Baron Cramer-Klett, is sending a train car filled with 10,000 kilograms of pasta to the Catholic student house at the University of Munich. Italian original at online Pacelli-Edition - English translation
Dec. 8, 1920 Hitler says the Jews in Russia, comprising 466 of the 674 state commissars, have taken control and are seeking to do the same in other countries to achieve “the promised world domination of Jewry.” Excerpt in translation
Dec. 12, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung publishes article entitled “French Freemasonry,” containing attacks on “Jewish Freemasonry” and presenting the claim that the Jews and Freemasons brought about World War One.
English translationArticle from same issue about brutality of Czech military against priests
Dec. 17, 1920 Nazi Party purchases sole control of the Nazi-oriented antisemitic twice-weekly Munich newspaper Völkischer Beobachter.
Dec. 19, 1920 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung runs articles on the dire threat of Bolshevism and Socialism to Germany, appealing for support for the Church to regain “influence in the public life of the people.”
English translations
Dec. 29 and 31, 1920 L’Osservatore Romano runs a two-part series on page one praising Archbishop Faulhaber of Munich.
The articles bear banner headlines and subheads: “The Social Action of a Bavarian Bishop: Capitalism in the Light of the Gospel – Work in the System of a Christian Political Economy – Capitalist and Bolshevik Economics” (Dec. 29) and “The Social Action of a Bavarian Bishop” (Dec. 31).
1921
Feb. 12, 1921 Hitler speaks to students at a packed Hofbräuhaus Nazi event.
Source: Völkischer Beobachter, Feb. 20, 1921, quoted in Hastings (2010), pp. 93-94.Hastings describes the effectiveness of antisemitic, pro-Nazi propagandizing among Catholic student organizations in Munich beginning in late 1920, observing by contrast that non-Catholic students and workers in Munich “were often decidedly resistant to the initial Nazi mobilization.” (p.94)
Feb. 25, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano article “Zionism and Palestine” reports that the French Government is inclined to assert French protectorship in the Holy Land.
English translation
Mar. 5, 1921 Nuncio Pacelli confides in a letter to Bavaria’s Ambassador to the Vatican, Baron von Ritter zu Groenesteyn, that he is encountering obstacles to success in his negotiations for a Bavaria-Vatican Concordat, but that he has hope that Bavarian Minister Franz Matt will move things forward.
Mar. 7, 1921 Michael von Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich, is elevated to Cardinal by Pope Benedict XV.
Mar. 21, 1921 Franz Matt, Education Minister of Bavaria, informs Bavarian Government head Gustav von Kahr of various issues that have impeded progress on a Bavaria-Vatican Concordat. L. Schmidt, Kultusminister Franz Matt, pp. 201-202.
Mar. 31, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano’s left side lead headline is “The Triumphal Return of Cardinal Faulhaber to Munich in Bavaria, by our special correspondent in Munich.”
Apr. 7, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano reports on Winston Churchill’s visit to Palestine.
The article reports his words, as British Minister for the Colonies, to Arab, Christian and Muslim leaders: “The Jews have an obvious right to have a national center and a national land in which they can gather. And where else would a place be found on earth for this, if not in Palestine where Jews have lived for three thousand years?”The article rebukes Churchill, saying a Jewish national center in Palestine “is an ethnical, juridical, and political absurdity.”
Apr. 11-12, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano’s right side lead headline is “Munich of Bavaria Honors Cardinal von Faulhaber.”
Apr. 23, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano posits a three-way identity among Freemasonry, Jewry and Bolshevism.
The article includes this passage: “The Jew remains always a Jew, even when he no longer believes in the religion of his fathers, and always, especially in the Masonic Lodges, thinks of nothing but his own interests intimately linked with those of Judaism. The label of his businesses may vary: here they will be called Zionism, elsewhere Bolshevism; but the goal is always the same, the triumph of the Jews over the Christians, the predominance of the Jewish race in the whole world, to be attained by whatever agreement, by whatever means.”
May 1, 1921 Arabs attack the May Day parade of Jewish workers in Jaffa, resulting in dozens of deaths on both sides, and hundreds wounded.
May 1, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano runs a “Zionism and Palestine” article explaining why the Zionist movement is not taking root among the Jews in the way its fanatical promoters would like.
English translation of article
May 8, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano’s lead headline is “Zionism and Palestine: The Genesis of Serious Disorders.”
English translation of article saying Russian Communism is identified with Judaism, and blaming anti-Jewish violence on the “Zionist invasion” and “Communist Jews”
May 10, 1921 Joseph Wirth of the Catholic Center Party becomes German Reich Chancellor.
May 15, 1921 In Italy, ex-Socialist Benito Mussolini is elected to the Italian parliament along with other Fascists, who are a loose network of nationalist thugs pitted against Socialists and other left-wing forces.
Source: David Kertzer, The Pope and Mussolini (2014), pp. 26-27.
May 28, 1921 France and the Vatican re-establish diplomatic relations after a 17-year hiatus.
May 28, 1921 Bavarian Education Minister Matt takes the position that the Vatican’s Concordat proposal as to Church control of education is irreconcilable with the Weimar Constitution and politically unsustainable. L. Schmidt, p.203.
May 30-31, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano, on its front page, says that claims of a “Jewish peril” are “not lacking for documentation.” English translation
The article says the danger is “precise” and “vast” and England is following a “Jewish policy” under pressure from “extremely influential Jewish elements.”The article cites the Protocols and says whether they are a fraud or are true “has remained among the unsolved questions of literary history.”
May 29-June 5, 1921 A convention of White Russians and Nazi-oriented Germans meets at Bad Reichenhall in Bavaria.
The convention is organized by the Aufbau organization and financed largely by its president, Baron Theodor von Cramer-Klett and associates.Nazis Amann and Scheubner-Richter play a central organizational role. Kellogg (2005), pp. 145-149.
June 8, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano gives front page coverage to a banquet held by the Minister President of Bavaria, Gustav von Kahr, for Cardinal Faulhaber.
English translationThe article illustrates the relationship between Kahr on the one hand and Cardinal Faulhaber and Nuncio Pacelli on the other.
June 13, 1921 Pope Benedict XV speaks about Palestine at a Consistory of Cardinals.
The Pope expresses his fear that “the Jews might attain a position of preponderance and privilege in Palestine.”He expresses concern not just for the Holy Places, but for the entire land of Palestine, because it was “consecrated by the Divine Redeemer Himself.”
The Pope goes on to say: “It is well known, in fact, that the situation of the Christians in Palestine has not only not improved but has even become worse through the new civil ordinances put in force there which tend – if not in the intentions of those responsible for them, certainly, however, in fact – to turn Christianity out of the positions it has occupied up to now and to put Jews in its place.”
English text from The Tablet
The Pope appeals for governments to exert pressure upon the League of Nations, which had not yet finalized and approved the British mandate to govern Palestine:
However, inasmuch as the situation in Palestine is not yet definitely regulated, We now raise Our voice that, when the time comes to establish there a permanent condition of things, to the Catholic Church and to all Christians shall be assured the inalienable rights they hold. Certainly We have no desire that any damage shall be done to the rights of the Jewish element; what We mean is that they must in no way be put above the just rights of the Christians. And to this end We warmly urge all the Governments of Christian nations, even if not Catholic, to bring vigilant pressure to bear on the League of Nations which, it is commonly said, is to consider and adjudicate on the English Mandate in Palestine.
June 16, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano explains the Pope’s speech.
The explanation focuses on the moral and religious rights of Christianity over the Holy Places, and the ethnic and political rights of Christians and Muslims whose families have long lived in Palestine, and who have a right of self-determination under the principles of the Treaty of Versailles.The recent bloody conflicts in Palestine, the paper says, are “the fatal consequence of unheard protests and unrestrained arrogance.”
June 16, 1921 Nuncio Pacelli visits new German Chancellor Joseph Wirth, of the Catholic Center Party, in Berlin.
On the same day, the leadership of the Center Party meets to discuss the possibility of Matthias Erzberger returning to political life. Morsey & Ruppert (1981), pp. 219-222.
June 18, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano begins a series of five “Zionism and Palestine” articles over a three-week period.
The articles emphasize the danger of a developing Jewish State in Palestine, describe recent disorders in Palestine, and attribute those disorders to Jewish-Bolshevik immigration and the native population’s natural response to it.Also on June 18th, Pacelli reports to Gasparri on the new government of Chancellor Joseph Wirth, noting that two cabinet ministers are Jews, and a third is married to a Jew.
Pacelli’s report expresses concern about Jews not as Communists, but as liberals and potential opponents to Vatican-favored Concordat terms. English translationPacelli notes that Wirth is a friend of Erzberger.
Erzberger tells Center Party leaders in June 1921 that he will return to political life in the upcoming Fall. Epstein (1959), pp. 382-383; Dowe (2011), p. 148. His return to the Reichstag and leadership influence in the Center Party would violate the instructions Erzberger received from the Vatican, via his Bishop, in June 1920.
June 29, 1921 Erzberger is cleared of charges of perjury, by a governmental investigation that followed his waiver of parliamentary immunity earlier in the year; but his return to a central role in the Reichstag cannot occur until after he is cleared also of charges of tax evasion in August 1921.
July 10, 1921 Pacelli explains to the Vatican his reasons for leaving Munich for 10 weeks in late 1918 and early 1919, enclosing a supporting declaration by Cardinal Faulhaber.
English translation
July 20, 1921 Hitler, in the midst of a power struggle for control of the Nazi Party, attracts a crowd of 7,000 to hear him speak in the Krone Circus in Munich. Kershaw (1998), p.164.
The Nazi Party had approximately 3,000 members at this time.
July 29, 1921 Hitler gains sole dictatorial power over the Nazi Party, confirmed by a vote of Nazi Party members meeting at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich. Kershaw (1998), p.165.
Aug. 4, 1921 Dietrich Eckart, editor of the Völkischer Beobachter, attacks the Center Party for cooperating with Marxist Jews and atheists “in perfect harmony.”
Hastings (2010) describes Eckart’s efforts in the Völkischer Beobachter to claim the mantle of true Catholicism for Nazism, while accusing Center Party leaders Matthias Erzberger and Joseph Wirth, the German Chancellor, of being untrue to Catholicism. (pp. 100-102)
Aug. 17, 1921 German governmental investigation clears Matthias Erzberger of charges of tax evasion; he immediately embarks on a plan to return to active political life as a key figure in the Weimar Coalition of the Center Party with the Social Democrats, and as an aspiring candidate for Chancellor of Germany. Epstein (1959); Dowe (2011); Haus (2011), p. 75.
Aug. 21, 1921 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung reports that in a recent Consistory of Cardinals in Rome, Pope Benedict XV “raised a demand that the League of Nations should further revise the assignment of the Palestine ‘Mandate’ and so far as possible remove it from the English, as it had been foreseeable that the English-Hebrew Governor Samuel would not be received exactly with satisfaction in Jerusalem.”
The same page of the Munich Katholische Kirchenzeitung features a racially charged piece about the "Black Shame" of French-African troops in Germany.English translation of “Black Shame” article
Aug. 25, 1921 Ronald Storrs, the British Governor of Jerusalem, has an audience with Pope Benedict XV and addresses the Pope’s concerns about the British administration of Palestine.
In response to the Vatican’s concerns about prostitutes in Jerusalem, Storrs says there were at least 500 in a special quarter of Jerusalem when the British took over, and he abolished the quarter in 1919. Minerbi, p.52.
Aug. 26, 1921 Matthias Erzberger, while planning his return to active political life with Center Party colleague Karl Dietz, is assassinated by members of Organisation Consul, who escape from Germany with assistance from Bavarian police authorities.
L’Osservatore Romano deplores the murder while criticizing Erzberger: “His activities as a parliamentary politician, as a polemicist, and especially as a writer provided reason for criticism and strong attacks because, even though he pursued noble ends, at times he presented facts and events as realities that were actually the fruit of his own personal judgments.”Translation of article and Vatican newspaper commentary on Erzberger
The Munich newspaper of the Social Democrat Party, long-time adversaries of Matthias Erzberger, gives him a favorable tribute.
The Nazi editor of the Völkischer Beobachter ridicules the idea of calling Erzberger a martyr and claims to be a true representative of Catholicism, in contrast to Erzberger and German Chancellor Joseph Wirth of the Catholic Center Party.
Aug. 29-30, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano reports mass demonstrations in Germany against the political assassination of Erzberger.
Translation of article, which cites only Socialist and Communist newspapers in Germany against the assassination.
Sept. 6, 1921 Nuncio Pacelli writes to Bavaria’s Ambassador to the Vatican that Franz Matt has moved the negotiations quickly forward toward a satisfactory Bavaria-Vatican Concordat.
Sept. 9, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano prints the text of a postcard that purports to be from Erzberger’s assassins while crossing the Brenner Pass from Austria into Italy, indicating that German authorities have been arresting innocent persons.
English translation
Sept. 12-13, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano quotes an Arab leader’s plea against the Balfour Declaration:
Article including this quote: “We have suffered a bitter illusion. We rebelled against Turkey but fell into the hands of Jewish immigrants from Russia, from Poland, and from other countries imbued with the spirit of Bolshevism. They have occupied the most important offices and imposed laws and levies on the people.”The same issue juxtaposes two items: First, the British Government transmitted its best wishes to the President of the Zionist Congress. Second, a report that representatives of the free Irish parliament are meeting with British representatives.
Note: These negotiations, which led to the Anglo-Irish treaty for Irish independence in December, took place during a fragile truce in the 1919-1921 Irish War of Independence against Great Britain.
Sep. 21, 1921 Bavarian elections are held and the non-elected Commissar Gustav von Kahr is replaced by Count Hugo von und zu Lerchenfeld as Minister President.
Oct. 1, 1921 The Bayerischer Kurier of Munich quotes a statement by Nuncio Pacelli against extremes of left and right in Bavaria.
“The Bavarian people are peace-loving. But, just as they were seduced during the revolution by alien elements - above all, Russians - into the extremes of Bolshevism, so now other non-Bavarian elements of entirely opposite persuasion have likewise thought to make Bavaria their base of operation.”Source: Rychlak (2010), p.37, quoting Bayerischer Kurier of Oct. 1, 1921, and saying, “This was Pacelli’s first published warning to people about Nazism, but it was not his last.”
The other statements by Pacelli about Nazism cited by Rychlak post-date Hitler’s failed November 1923 Putsch.
Oct. 15, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a strident attack on the Balfour Declaration by Cardinal Bourne, the highest ranking Catholic Bishop in Britain.
Article, including this passage: “I do not believe that the British people are disposed to throw away their own money to establish in Palestine a Jewish State... It would be a serious outrage to the conscience of all of Christianity if the Holy Land, torn out of the hands of the faithful today by the work of British soldiers, were to be placed under the dominion of those who have renounced the name of Christ.”
Oct. 28, 1921 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a sarcastic article about the recently founded Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Translation of article, contrasting Zionist claims of fairness and cultural even-handedness with plans to have a Jewish studies department and to have courses taught in Hebrew.
Nov. 13, 1921 Vatican Nuncio Cerretti, in Paris, reports negatively about a proposal for Bavarian independence supported by Baron Cramer-Klett, whose letter of support denounces “the destructive and fatal influence of Judaism of Masonic-Bolshevik Berlin.” English translation
Cramer-Klett, a wealthy Bavarian nobleman, was close to Faulhaber as a major Catholic benefactor as of 1918, and developed close ties to Nuncio Pacelli and the Vatican beginning in mid-1919, as seen in the entries for July 25, 1919; Aug. 18, 1919; Sept. 15, 1919; Feb. 14, 1920; Feb. 28, 1920; Oct. 23, 1920; Nov. 21, 1920; Dec. 21, 1921; and Apr. 26, 1923. Cramer-Klett served in the early 1920s as president and major funder of the Bavarian-based Aufbau organization.
Nov. 14, 1921 Bavarian Minister-President Lerchenfeld instructs Matt to proceed with negotiations toward a new Bavaria-Vatican Concordat. Schmidt, p.204.
Nov. 15, 1921 Nuncio Pacelli writes to Ambassador Ritter zu Groenesteyn that the Reich Chancellor, in a personal meeting, has agreed to commence negotiations for a Reich Concordat.
Nov. 16, 1921 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that in the midst of acute crisis in the German Government, and the formation of a new Cabinet under Chancellor Wirth, Wirth has asked to open negotiations for a Reich-Vatican Concordat. English translation
Nov. 23, 1921 Völkischer Beobachter enthusiastically reviews an antisemitic, pro-Nazi book by a Munich priest.
Father Alois Hecker’s book Weltregierung [World Government] argues that antisemitism is “simply following the spirit of Jesus” (pp. 32-33) and promotes the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory in these terms:“In Russia the battle against Bolshevism means the extermination of the Jews,” p.163, quoted in translation by Hastings (2010), p.97.
Father Hecker’s book attacked Matthias Erzberger as a tool of international Jewry, pp. 125-130, and reprinted with high praise the entire 25-point Nazi Party program of Feb. 24, 1920, on pp. 177-181. Hastings (2010), pp. 98, 224.
Hastings observes that Hecker “distanced himself” from Nazism after Hitler’s failed Putsch of November 1923. (p.223)
Dec. 4, 1921 Münchener Katholische Kirchenzeitung republishes the Bavarian Bishops’ pastoral letter of December 1919 on the “bad press,” which is read annually at all the masses in Bavaria on the Second Sunday of Advent.
Dec. 6, 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty provides for an end to British rule over Ireland, except for six northern counties.
Dec. 9, 1921 Pacelli explains to Gasparri why a separate Bavarian Concordat will not encourage a Bavarian separatist movement.
English translation
Dec. 11, 1921 Pacelli writes Ambassador Ritter zu Groenesteyn that “a very clumsy step” by others has aroused “acute concern” in the German Government about a separate treaty between the State of Bavaria and the Vatican.
Dec. 15, 1921 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about a “truly deplorable” leak by the Reich Government to the “Jewish-Democratic” newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung about negotiations for a Reich-Vatican Concordat.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 1168 and English translationEnglish translation of article “Concordat Plans” in Frankfurter Zeitung
Also on Dec. 15th, Cardinal Faulhaber visits Bavarian Government authorities to press for a new Bavarian-Vatican Concordat. Schmidt, p.204.
Dec. 17, 1921 The Wiener Morgenzeitung [Vienna Morning Times] publishes an interview between a Zionist leader and Italian priest Ernesto Buonaiuti, a professor at the Pontifical University in Rome, who says that Jesus’ words about the Temple in Jerusalem, that “not one stone will be left on another” (cf. Luke 21:5-6), mean that Jerusalem must not be restored to political significance. Minerbi, p.162.
Dec. 21, 1921 Gasparri writes Pacelli that, according to Baron Cramer-Klett, there is a Jewish-Masonic society based in Bern, Switzerland that “has its long arm in the Berlin Cabinet Ministry.”
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
1922
Jan. 20, 1922 Germany lobbies the Vatican to take a favorable stance toward Zionism.
The Foreign Office instructs Germany’s Ambassador to the Vatican, Diego von Bergen, to ascertain whether the Vatican can take a favorable stance toward Zionism, on grounds that “such improvement would contribute to the German interest because of the Jews’ relationship to German culture.” Sergio Minerbi, The Vatican and Zionism, p.164 (observing that Germany’s foreign policy interest in this objective “did not diminish throughout 1922”).
Jan. 22, 1922 Pope Benedict XV dies.
Feb. 6, 1922 Achille Ratti is elected Pope on the 14th ballot. He retains Cardinal Gasparri as Vatican Secretary of State.
Feb. 11, 1922 Achille Ratti is crowned as Pope Pius XI.
Feb. 27, 1922 In a report to Gasparri, Pacelli refers to the new German Foreign Minister, Walther Rathenau, as intelligent and able “though a Hebrew.”
English translation
Mar. 30, 1922 Impasse continues between Bavarian Government and Vatican over terms for a new Concordat.
Bavarian Government continues to insist that new Bishops be selected by the Cathedral Chapters, with the Pope having the right to confirm the choice, rather than have freedom of selection as provided by the 1917 Code of Canon Law.Original documents at www.Pacelli-Edition.de: Kultusminister Franz Matt to Nuncio Pacelli, Mar. 30, 1922, Dokt. 10320 and Pacelli to Gasparri, Apr. 15, 1922, Dokt. 4148 (English translation)
Apr. 5, 1922 Concordat negotiations between the Vatican and Bavaria continue to bog down.
Memo from a Bavarian Bishop to Cardinal Faulhaber expressing frustration over delays in Concordat negotiations and Berlin Government’s opposition to the effort.
Apr. 8, 1922 Völkischer Beobachter reports and mocks a speech by the Bavarian Minister-President, Count Lerchenfeld, in which he says his convictions “as a man and as a Christian” compel him to oppose antisemitism.
Source: Hastings (2010), p.102. Hastings goes on to describe Hitler’s direct reaction to Lerchenfeld the next week, in a widely publicized speech on April 12th.
Apr. 12, 1922 Hitler responds to Lerchenfeld by saying as a Christian he is called to fight the Jews.
Source: Hastings (2010), who describes how Hitler’s words about following his “Lord and Savior” against the Jews became the first mass reprinted and distributed Nazi propaganda pamphlet of its kind. (p.103)
Apr. 15, 1922 Pacelli writes Ritter zu Groenesteyn about the severity of the problems he is encountering in negotiating the Concordat with the Bavarian State Government.
English translationAlso on April 15th, Pacelli reports to Gasparri about the Bavarian Government’s request that the Vatican accommodate the historic characteristics of the Catholic Church in Bavaria. English translation
Apr. 21, 1922 L’Osservatore Romano begins another series of “Zionism and Palestine” articles, with seven prominent articles bearing that headline over the next two months.
English translations
Spring 1922 Vatican seeks delay in vote by League of Nations to ratify the Mandate for Britain to govern Palestine for the purpose of establishing a Jewish homeland.
British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon writes the British Ambassador to the Vatican on May 8, 1922 that he is “at a loss to understand in what manner the Vatican could regard itself as being entitled to intervene in the matter” of the British Mandate in the League of Nations. Minerbi, p.168.
May 13, 1922 L’Osservatore Romano covers a talk by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, during a visit to Rome, saying Zionism intends to seize all of Palestine, erect a Zionist kingdom, expel the present inhabitants, and use terrorism to accomplish its goals.
English translation
May 15, 1922 Cardinal Gasparri sends a diplomatic note to the Council of the League of Nations objecting to the draft Mandate for Palestine.
The note argues that the Mandate would give the Jews “an absolute preponderance” over other peoples as to immigration, economic development and governmental administration in Palestine. The result is a two-month postponement of the League of Nations vote on the Palestine Mandate, from May to July. Minerbi, p.178.
May 20, 1922 Civiltà Cattolica publishes article “Zionism According to the Opinions of the Jews.”
English translation
May 24, 1922 Leaders of the Irish Republican Army and Irish republican leader Eamonn De Valera instruct their followers to stop fighting against the British Commonwealth-affiliated Irish Free State government, thus ending the year-long Irish Civil War.
June 3, 1922 Pacelli writes Ambassador Ritter zu Groenesteyn that Church authorities in Rome are wrong to assume Bavaria will readily agree to the Vatican’s terms for the new Concordat.
English translation
June 4, 1922 Assassination attempt is made against Philipp Scheidemann, former German Reich Chancellor, by members of Bavarian-based terrorist group Organisation Consul.
June 22, 1922 Hitler speech proclaims the mission of the “Germanic Reich of the German Nation” against “our mortal enemy: the Jews” with the swastika flag leading the “triumphal procession.”
Source: Völkischer Beobachter, June 24, 1922.
June 24, 1922 German Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau is assassinated by members of Organisation Consul.
Historian Michael Kellogg says “evidence suggests that at least three Aufbau members, General Biskupskii, General Erich von Ludendorff, and his advisor Colonel Karl Bauer colluded in Organisation C’s shocking assassination of Walther Rathenau ...” (p.166)Aufbau was founded in Fall 1920 in Bavaria. Biskupskii was vice president of Aufbau; Baron Theodor von Cramer-Klett was president; and close Hitler associate Max von Scheubner-Richter was Aufbau’s organizational directing force.
Earlier in 1922, Aufbau members murdered Vladimir Nabokov, the father of the like-named novelist. Kellogg, p.168.
June 28, 1922 Start of Irish civil war between those favoring British Commonwealth status with the British monarch as Irish head of state, and those favoring full independence as a republic.
July 1922 Vatican presses Catholic countries to oppose the Mandate for Palestine in the League of Nations.
Source: Minerbi, pp. 178-188 and accompanying notes, citing reports by diplomats of multiple countries.
July 10, 1922 Impasse continues in Vatican-Bavarian negotiations for a new Concordat.
Translation of memo from Cardinal Faulhaber to the Bavarian Bishops describing Bavarian government’s resistance and the unrealistic expectations of Cardinals in Rome for a model Concordat from Bavaria because it is a “pure Catholic province.”
July 15, 1922 Civiltà Cattolica publishes lengthy article “Zionism According to the Opinions of the Non-Jews,” accusing Jewish immigrants to Palestine of bringing with them “the insanity of the most extreme Bolshevik Communism.”
This is the article’s introductory summary: “I. Zionism prejudices the rights of the Arab population that has possessed Palestine for so many centuries. - II. England is violating the treaty in which it gave Palestine to the Sheriff of Mecca. - III. The Allies promised the Arabs independence and the option of having their own government. - IV. Zionist abuses and overbearingness against the population in order to found the State of Israel. - V. Arab resentment: appeal to England with adverse results. - VI. Turmoils: protests: threats and dangers for the future. - VII. Union of all the inhabitants of Palestine against Jewish predominance in Palestine. - VIII. A vote in the House of Lords.”
July 19, 1922 L’Osservatore Romano runs a front page article on “The Jews of Poland,” accusing them as a group of “repellent filthiness” and Bolshevism, also alleging that Polish Zionists want to transform Poland into a “colony” of the Jewish State in Palestine.
English translationJuly 22, 1922 The new “Republic Defense Law” goes into effect in Germany, in response to the assassination of Walther Rathenau.
The law outlaws political violence, verbal and written attacks on the constitutional form of government, efforts to bring back the monarchy, and associational ties with persons or entities engaged in Hochverrat – high treason. The State Government of Bavaria refuses to cooperate in enforcing the new law, and it enacts a Bavarian Emergency Decree as a counter-measure.
July 23, 1922 German Chancellor Wirth tells Nuncio Pacelli it is impossible to get a Bavaria-Vatican Concordat approved by the Reichstag.
Nuncio Pacelli reports to Cardinal Secretary of State Gasparri that Chancellor Wirth has told him it is impossible to propose to the Reichstag a Concordat that the Vatican would like. G. Besier, p.56, citing Pacelli to Gasparri, July 23, 1922, Vatican Archives, AA.EE.SS, Germania, Pos. 507 P.O. fasc. 16, fo. 84r-v, and Secretariat of State, Affari Ecclesiastici Straordinari, Germania, Pos. 511, P.O. fasc. 21 fos 33r-34r.
July 24, 1922 The League of Nations ratifies the Mandate for Great Britain to administer Palestine for the purpose of establishing a national home for the Jewish people.
English version adopted by the Council of the League of Nations, online at Jewish Virtual Library
July 29, 1922 L’Osservatore Romano runs articles about Zionism and Palestine.
English translations
July 29, 1922 Documentation Catholique runs 30 pages of critical coverage of the British Mandate over Palestine, calling it “illegal.”
Original French cover and précis of articles
July 31, 1922 The Bayerischer Kurier publishes an article accusing the German Government and its late Foreign Minister, Walther Rathenau, of conspiring with Soviet agents in Germany to disarm German counter-revolutionary forces.
Aug. 12, 1922 The German and Bavarian governments reach a tentative agreement whereby Bavaria will accept the Reich Defense Law and Berlin will respect the rights of the states.
Source: Münchner Neueste Nachrichten [Munich Latest News], Aug. 12-13, page one, “Das Protokoll Berlin-München: Die Vereinbarung.”
Aug. 16, 1922 Hitler addresses a crowd of 50,000-70,000 on the Königsplatz [King’s Plaza] in Munich.
Source: Völkischer Beobachter, Aug. 19, 1922, page one, “For Germany - Against Berlin."
Aug. 17, 1922 Hitler addresses a crowd of 7,000 in Munich’s largest indoor venue, the Krone Circus.
Hitler denounces the mainstream press of Germany as “the Jewish press” and declares: “The incitement against Bavaria in the Berlin Jewish press must stop.”Source: Bayerischer Kurier and Munich Zeitung [Munich Times], reprinted in Jäckel and Kuhn, pp. 682-685.
Aug. 21, 1922 Chancellor Wirth writes to Cardinal Faulhaber complaining about the false and incendiary article in the July 31 Bayerischer Kurier.
Wirth expresses his regret that Faulhaber does not want him to attend the upcoming nationwide Catholic Congress in Munich, and asks Faulhaber to take a stand against the dangerous mood that is prevalent in the Catholic population of Bavaria.
Aug. 24, 1922 L’Osservatore Romano reports on the visit to Munich by German First World War hero Paul von Hindenburg,
English translation of article reflecting tension at the time between Bavaria and the Weimar Republic.
Aug. 27, 1922 Cardinal Faulhaber speaks to 100,000 German Catholics at the Pontifical Mass celebrated by Vatican Nuncio Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli on Munich’s Königsplatz.
Faulhaber attacks the “Jewish press of Berlin,” denounces the November 1918 German revolution as “perjury and high treason,” and says the resulting government is “marked with the sign of Cain.”Translated address of Nuncio Pacelli to the Catholic Congress on the same day
Coverage of the event in the Munich Neueste Nachrichten
Faulhaber and Pacelli at the Mass on the Königsplatz:
Pontifical Mass at the Königsplatz
Aug. 30, 1922 Konrad Adenauer, Mayor of Cologne and President of the Catholic Congress, tries tactfully to counter Cardinal Faulhaber’s remarks.
Translated excerpt from Munich Neueste Nachrichten, with commentary that Adenauer’s remarks met with “consternation” while the Cardinal’s remarks got “a jubilant reception.”On the same day, the Völkischer Beobachter publishes Cardinal Faulhaber’s remarks about “perjury and high treason” and the “Jewish press in Berlin.”
The Nazi paper presents Faulhaber’s words as a rejection of the established state order and denounces the Weimar Republic as Jewish-Marxist.
An accompanying opinion piece by Nazi ideologist Alfred Rosenberg notes Faulhaber’s “remarkable” use of the phrase “Catholics of pure-racial type.”
Faulhaber’s use of this phrase, “Der Name Katholik ist ... Ausdruck reinrassiger Art,” occurred in the first sentences of his address to the crowd at mass on the Königsplatz, as seen here in English translation
Aug. 30, 1922 L’Osservatore Romano gives front page coverage to the Catholic Congress and Cardinal Faulhaber’s speech, with no mention of his words about “perjury and high treason” or the “Jewish press.”
English translation
Aug. 31, 1922 The Ingolstadt Free Press in Bavaria calls for prosecution of Cardinal Faulhaber under the Republic Defense Law for defamation of the Weimar Constitution and the founders of the Republic.
English translation
Sept. 2, 1922 Völkischer Beobachter gives further coverage to Cardinal Faulhaber’s remarks of August 27th.
Front page article applauding Faulhaber for attacking Jews in a racial sense and adopting the Völkisch critique of the Weimar RepublicHastings (2010) observes that Cardinal Faulhaber did nothing publicly to counter the impression he had endorsed Nazi-style antisemitism until November 1923, by which time the Nazis “had already succeeded in mobilizing thousands and thousands of Catholics in and around Munich.” (p.104)
Sept. 3, 1922 Article in Catholic journal Hochland observes that Bavarian Catholics cast their monarchical reverence upon Cardinal Faulhaber as they had previously upon the King.
“It was as if the Bavarian people had transferred their previous reverence for the person of the King to the Prince of the Church.” Stehkämper (1977), quoting F. Fuchs, Hochland, vol. 20 (1922), p.105.
Sept. 5, 1922 Bavarian Bishops hear again of further delays in Bavaria-Vatican Concordat negotiations.
English translation of minutes of Cardinal Faulhaber’s report to the Bavarian Bishops Conference
Sept. 14, 1922 Cardinal Faulhaber responds to Chancellor Wirth’s letter of Aug. 21st.
English translation
Sept. 18, 1922 Hitler echoes Cardinal Faulhaber’s August 27th rhetoric in a speech to a crowd of 7,000 in Munich.
Excerpts of speech concerning “Criminals of 1918,” “Traitors to the Fatherland,” and attack on Jews
Sept. 19, 1922 Cardinal Faulhaber writes to Archbishop Pizzardo at the Vatican, expressing his gratitude that Pope Pius XI has privately said he is pleased with Faulhaber’s words of Aug. 27th.
English translationTranslation of Faulhaber letter of same date to Ambassador Ritter zu Groenesteyn, representing privately (but not publicly) that he did not intend to condemn the Weimar Republic
Early Fall 1922 Nazi Party membership numbers approximately 3,000.
Source: Hastings (2010), p.104, citing Tyrell (1975), p.32. Nazi membership increased during the upcoming 12 months to more than 50,000.
Sept. 23, 1922 Hitler repeatedly denounces the “Jewish press” in a front-page appeal in the Völkischer Beobachter.
English translation
Sept. 23, 1922 Völkischer Beobachter leverages Cardinal Faulhaber’s Aug. 27th words for another attack against “the Jewish press” as well as against Zionism.
English translation of article “Rome and Jewry”The banner headline on page one of this edition proclaims that Jews are taking over the Bavarian beer industry.
Oct. 1, 1922 L’Osservatore Romano defends Cardinal Faulhaber against criticisms, saying he spoke at the Munich Catholic Congress “with the heart and mind of a priest.”
English translation
Oct. 2, 1922 Cardinal Gasparri sends a letter to Bishops of Italy on the proper conduct of priests in relation to political parties.
In response to criticism later that month, Gasparri instructs an Italian Diocesan censor that “public criticism of the Secretariat of State is criticism of the Holy Father; this must be borne in mind by anyone who wants to be truly Catholic.” Source: Nina Valbousquet, “Gasparri, Benigni et les catholiques intégraux,” p.12 (publication forthcoming), citing letter of Oct. 29, 1922 from Gasparri to Biagioli, Vatican Secret Archives, AES, Italia, 608 PO, fasc. 44.
Oct. 5, 1922 Cardinal Faulhaber writes to his fellow Bavarian Bishops informing them that Pope Pius XI agrees completely with Faulhaber’s speech to the Munich Catholic Congress.
English translationFaulhaber cites the October 1st article in L’Osservatore Romano as indicative of the support he has in official Church circles.
Oct. 19, 1922 Cardinal Faulhaber writes Nuncio Pacelli stating (again only privately) that he intended only to condemn the Revolution of 1918, not the Weimar Republic.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Oct. 21, 1922 Civiltà Cattolica publishes a detailed promotion of the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory.
English translation of “World Revolution and the Jews”This article claims that 447 of the highest 545 Soviet Russian officials are Jews.
The claim of 447 is identical to the “Who Governs Russia?” article in Der Stürmer 13 years later, with the 545 figure rounded to 550 in the latter instance.
The claim of 447 of 545 also appears in a 1922 book (pp. 5, 20, 26) by a White Russian emigré in Munich who worked closely with Hitler and the Nazis, Fedor Vinberg. His book Der Kreuzeweg Russlands: Teil I: Die Ursachen des Uebels [Russia’s Way of the Cross: Part I: The Origins of the Evil] (Munich: R. Oldenbourg, 1922), was translated from Russian into German by K. von Jarmersted. Kellogg (2005), p.141.
Oct. 21, 1922 The same issue of Civiltà Cattolica reverses its prior criticism of Fascism, under instructions from the Vatican, and begins a continuing effort to legitimize Mussolini and his Fascists in the eyes of Catholics.
Source: Kertzer (2014), pp. 48, 420, citing G. Sale, Fascismo e Vaticano prima della Conciliazione [Fascism and the Vatican before the Conciliation of 1929] (2007), p.27, and Civiltà Cattolica, Oct. 21, 1922, vol. 4, p.204.
Oct. 22, 1922 Nazi Party planning document proposes the expansion of the Völkischer Beobachter into a daily newspaper and powerful propaganda weapon, along with the equipping of a Nazi paramilitary force, modeled on the Italian Fascists.
Oct. 23, 1922 First mention of the Nazi Party in any of the twice-monthly political situation reports sent from Munich to Washington by US Vice Consul Robert Murphy during 1921-1923.
Excerpt of report
Oct. 25, 1922 Britain’s Vatican envoy reports to London: “Everything in the Vatican is dominated by the Pope’s fear of Russian Communism.”
Source: Anthony Rhodes, The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators, 1922-1945 (1974), p.18, cited by Kertzer (2014), p.420.
Oct. 26, 1922 Counter-revolutionary leaders in Bavaria, including Ludendorff, agree that Hitler will lead a paramilitary mobilization aiming at rising to power in Germany. Kellogg (2005), p.194.
Oct. 22-29, 1922 Mussolini marches on Rome with his “blackshirt” Fascist forces and is appointed head of the Italian Government by the King of Italy.
Oct. 27, 1922 Pacelli reports to Gasparri on the Bavarian government’s negative response to the Vatican’s latest Concordat proposal.
English translation
Nov. 8, 1922 Eugen von Knilling replaces Lerchenfeld as Prime Minister of Bavaria.
Report on Lerchenfeld’s resignation by American Vice Consul Murphy on Nov. 4th
Nov. 9, 1922 On the third anniversary of the German Revolution that Cardinal Faulhaber had condemned three months before, a coalition of counter-revolutionary groups under Hitler’s leadership is announced in Bavaria.
Source: Kellogg (2005), p.195. Kellogg says Ludendorff promoted the Nazis in this coalition effort to create “an audacious national revolutionary offensive.”
Nov. 10, 1922 First mention of Hitler by name in Vice Consul Murphy’s situation reports from Munich.
Excerpt of report stating that Hitler’s followers regard him as the “Bavarian Mussolini” and are aiming to imitate Mussolini’s recent success
Nov. 10, 1922 First mention of Hitler and Nazis in Nuncio Pacelli’s reports to Rome, referring to National Socialists as “a sort of Fascists led by Hitler.”
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Nov. 14, 1922 Joseph Wirth of the Catholic Center Party resigns as German Reich Chancellor after the Bavarian People’s Party withdraws its support.
Nov. 16, 1922 Lengthy Bavarian Government internal memorandum reflects continuing disagreement with Vatican as to terms for a Concordat.
Source: L. Schmidt, Kultusminister Franz Matt, pp. 206-207 & notes 104-107.
Nov. 22, 1922 Wilhelm Cuno, a Catholic not affiliated with a political party, becomes German Reich Chancellor in a new coalition government.
Nov. 25, 1922 American Consul Robert Murphy in Munich reports in detail on the emergence of Hitler and the Nazis as a force in Bavaria.
Text of the report
Nov. 29, 1922 Bishop Baron von Ow-Felldorf rejoices in the resignation of Catholic ex-Chancellor Wirth.
English translation of letter from Bishop Ow-Felldorf to Cardinal Faulhaber, wishing to see the “ship of state” in “hands that are equal to the increasingly urgent and assertive demands of a portentous juncture!”
Dec. 1922 A Bavarian Catholic priest publishes series of articles arguing the Nazis are anti-Catholic and anti-Christian.
Source: Hastings (2010), pp. 105-106, stating that these articles in the Augsburg Postzeitung newspaper were reprinted and distributed in 1923 by the Bavarian People’s Party, in an effort to stem the pro-Nazi tide among Bavarian Catholics.
Dec. 11, 1922 Pope Pius XI speaks to a Consistory of Cardinals about Palestine, affirming the policy his predecessor announced to the Consistory of June 13, 1921.
Excerpt of English translation from The Tablet
Dec. 20, 1922 Völkischer Beobachter publishes two short pieces about Catholic authorities and the Nazi movement, including Cardinal Faulhaber’s criticism of the Völkischer Beobachter for mocking the Christian cross.
English translations
Dec. 23, 1922 Pope Pius XI issues his first encyclical, Ubi Arcano, “on the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ,” which discusses the causes of the First World War, observes that peace treaties have not put an end to human enmity and risks of war, dismisses the League of Nations as a solution, and puts forward the Catholic Church as the “institution able to safeguard the sanctity of the law of nations” and thus ensure peace.
English version at Vatican website
Dec. 28, 1922 Bavarian Government sends Nuncio Pacelli a Concordat counter-proposal that is somewhat closer than before to Vatican demands.
During the months of detailed negotiations that follow, there is strong opposition to the Concordat from some members of “Cathedral Chapters,” the committees of clerics who have the traditional right to choose successor Bishops, a right that would ultimately be ceded to the Pope under the new Concordat. L. Schmidt, pp. 208-209.Note: The online www.Pacelli-Edition.de contains a side-by-side comparison in German of the Vatican proposal and the Bavarian counter-proposal; Article 14 shows their diametrically opposite positions as to appointment of Bishops.
1923
Jan. 3, 1923 Banner headline in Nazi Party’s Völkischer Beobachter proclaims “Our Mission for 1923”: to hasten the day when a new nationalist government will “run out the criminals,” i.e., the Weimar Republic government.
English translation
Jan. 1923 French military forces begin the occupation of the Ruhr Valley industrial region after Germany defaults on reparation payments to the Allies.
Jan. 13, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter banner headline: “Down with the November Criminals!”
English translation
Jan. 14, 1923 US Vice Consul Robert Murphy reports Hitler’s recent dramatic rise from insignificance to now addressing “ten over-flow meetings in a single evening,” seeking to imitate Mussolini and his recent Italian coup d’etat.
Text of Murphy’s report to the US State Dept, identifying Hitler’s main message as antisemitism, combined with anti-Communism.
Jan. 15, 1923 Munich Police estimate Nazi SA stormtroop numbers in Munich at 1000-1500.
Source: Kellogg (2005), p.200, citing report in Munich Police Headquarters files at the Bavarian State Archive in Munich.
Jan. 19, 1923 Mussolini and Cardinal Gasparri hold a secret meeting in Rome and agree on a go-between to maintain regular communication between the Vatican and Mussolini.
Source: Kertzer (2014), pp. 51-53, 89.Father Pietro Tacchi Venturi played a continuing role as messenger between Pius XI and Gasparri on the one hand, and Mussolini on the other, through 1920s and 1930s.
Jan. 22, 1923 Pacelli cables Gasparri that Baron Cramer-Klett has learned the Reich Government will resist the Allies’ occupation of the Ruhr Valley.
Italian original at Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Jan. 24, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter announces upcoming Nazi Party Congress with mass gatherings in all the great halls of Munich and a “consecration of flags” on Sunday morning.
English translation of advertisement
Jan. 24, 1923 A Catholic priest publicly answers the Bavarian People’s Party’s accusations that the Nazis are anti-Catholic.
Source: Hastings (2010), p.112, quoting Fr. Magnus Gött, “Nationalsozialismus und Religion,” Völkischer Beobachter, Jan. 24, 1923.Hastings describes the highly visible back-and-forth publicity campaigns between the Nazis and the Bavarian People’s Party from late 1922 into 1923, over who was truly Catholic. (pp. 105-115)
Feb. 2, 1923 Murphy reports that Hitler held a successful Nazi Party national convention in Munich on Jan. 27-29, filling 12 large halls to overflowing.
The Bavarian Government’s prohibition of the convention was reversed under pressure from Gustav von Kahr and another royalist official.
Feb. 3, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter announces it is becoming a daily newspaper, expanding from twice weekly publication.
English translation of announcement
Feb. 22, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter runs an article by Catholic Nazi author Schrönghamer-Heimdal arguing Nazism is compatible with Catholicism and the Center Party is not, because of its cooperation with Jews and socialists.
Source: Hastings (2010), p.112, citing “Der Feldzug der Verleumdung” [The Campaign of Defamation], Völkischer Beobachter, Feb. 22, 1923.Hastings describes the Nazis, from late 1922 into 1923, emphasizing “warrior Christianity” in contrast to “the alleged complacency, hypocrisy, and weakness” of non-Nazi Catholic politicians. (p.112)
Mar. 3, 1923 Murphy reports the wide extent and extreme intensity of Hitler’s agitation in Bavaria.
He says Hitler is appealing to “the illusion of Bolshevism” and attacking “above all the Jews,” with a party platform based throughout on opposition to the Jews.Nazi stormtroop paramilitary ranks have increased to 4,000.
Mar. 18, 1923 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that a critic put Cramer-Klett's name into the press, “but by good fortune, to no effect.”
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 1086
Mar. 23, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter attacks the “Jewish press” of Germany and of Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Mar. 29, 1923 In a report to Gasparri, Pacelli counters accusations that the Vatican has participated in separatist movements in Bavaria.
English translationPacelli's report includes a third party's short list of Germans with close ties to the Vatican, including Baron Cramer-Klett along with German Cardinals, the King of Saxony, and two Abbots.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 1087
Apr. 6, 1923 Hitler gives a speech claiming Nazism is true “warrior Christianity” and the Center Party “most seriously threatens Christianity through its connection with Marxist atheism.”
Source: Hastings (2010), p.113, quoting in translation from Völkischer Beobachter, Apr. 8-9, 1923.
Apr. 11, 1923 Nazi SA stormtroops are the largest component in the counter-revolutionary military mobilization of 1923 in Bavaria; other forces participating with the SA included Reichsflagge and Bund Oberland.
According to Kellogg, Munich police reports of April 28th and June 21st indicate increasing public mobilization of these forces during spring 1923. Ibid.
Apr. 11, 1923 Nazi Völkischer Beobachter exhorts Germans to join the Nazi army to fight against treason flowing from Berlin, under the headline: “Bolshevism: Jewish Revenge,” in a programmatic lead article by Nazi ideologist Alfred Rosenberg.
German originalAlso on April 11th, a Munich police report describes Nazi military mobilization in Munich involving 6,000 men. Kellogg (2005), p.200, citing report in Munich Police Headquarters files at the Bavarian State Archive in Munich.
Apr. 17, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter advertises outdoor gathering at the Mars Field in Munich where Hitler will speak on “The Peace Treason of Versailles as the Eternal Curse of the November Republic.”
English translation
Apr. 20, 1923 Hitler addresses another crowd at the Mars Field on “Politics and Race: Why Are We Antisemites?”
Apr. 26, 1923 Baron Cramer-Klett writes a strong letter rebuking Konrad Adenauer for criticizing Cardinal Faulhaber in relation to Faulhaber’s Aug. 27, 1922 words to the German Catholic Congress.
English translation of the letter
Apr. 28, 1923 Newspaper in Miesbach, Bavaria reports that Father Lorenz Pieper, the Secretary of the Volksverein für das Katholische Deutschland [People’s Association for Catholic Germany], has joined the Nazi Party.
Source: Miesbacher Anzeiger, Apr. 28, 1923, p.1.Father Pieper proceeds to give pro-Nazi speeches in Bavaria during the next four months, a time of rapid Nazi recruiting and paramilitary mobilization.
The editor of the Miesbach Anzeiger, Father Bernhard Stempfle, who earlier was recommended by Pacelli for a post in the German Embasssy to the Vatican, becomes an advisor to Hitler in 1923, helps Hitler in preparing Mein Kampf in 1924, and helps maintain the Nazi Party archives in the second half of the 1920s. Father Stempfle is later killed at Hitler’s direction in the Night of the Long Knives, June 30, 1934.
Apr. 29, 1923 Nazi stormtroop mobilization event in Ingolstadt, Bavaria features a public mass and flag blessing ceremony conducted by a parish priest.
English translation of announcement of the event, from the Völkischer BeobachterReport of April 29th event in Nazi paper on May 1st
Apr. 30, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter begins weekly feature listing all the Sunday mass times for the Munich Catholic Churches.
Hastings (2010) describes this and a series of other features by which the Nazi Party portrayed itself as strongly pro-Catholic during its recruiting campaign of spring-summer 1923. (pp. 114-138)
Spring-Summer 1923 Nazi mobilization campaign expands Nazi Party membership from 20,000 as of February 1923 to 55,000 as of November 1923.
Source: Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris, p. 190.Kershaw says most new members joined out of “protest, anger, and bitterness” in the midst of economic and political crisis. He does not mention any contributory role of Catholic authority and Catholic clergy in 1923 or any other part of the 1920s.
The works of German historians on the Nazi Party in the early 1920s likewise do not touch upon this aspect. See works by Auerbach, Deuerlein, Franz-Willing, Maser, Tyrell, and Winkler cited in the Bibliography.
May 1, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter reports on the Ingolstadt stormtroop festivities of April 29th.
English translation mentioning the “inspiring nationalist sermon” by the Catholic pastor who celebrated mass for the SA and blessed their swastika flags.English translation of article on same page boasting of the “enhanced recruiting activity” of the Nazi Party.
Hastings (2010) describes this event and similar favor shown by Catholic priests in Munich and throughout Bavaria, in spring and summer 1923, for Nazi paramilitary mobilization events. (pp. 120-135)
Hastings also describes an instance when a Catholic Church official in Regensburg denied permission for a special mass in a church for SA forces in uniform. (p.135)
May 1, 1923 Nazi stormtroops, 2000 strong with combat gear and sidearms, demonstrate in Munich to intimidate a workers’ and Socialists’ May Day parade.
May 2, 1923 L’Osservatore Romano gives coverage to Hitler mobilizing against Communists.
Translation of article saying Hitler responded to Communists announcing their intent to parade through Munich with Soviet flags and symbolsThe article states: “the leader of the National Socialists, Hitler, responded with a statement that the Communist demonstrations would be met with force. It seems that all Hitler’s units had indeed been mobilized.”
According to Kellogg (2005), the Bavarian government, police, and army reacted negatively to the Nazi mobilization of May 1st. (p.201)
May 2, 1923 Counter-revolutionary groups in Bavaria form the Kampfgemeinschaft Nationaler Verbände [Combat Group of Nationalist Associations] under the joint leadership of Hitler and Ludendorff.
Kellogg (2005), p.202, citing reports of May 3 and 23, 1923 in the files of the Reich Commissar for Oversight of Public Order, in the German Federal Archives in Berlin.
Late April-May 1923 Cardinal Faulhaber makes a speaking and fund-raising tour in the United States.
L’Osservatore Romano reports his fund-raising appeal in detail - English translation
May 7-12, 1923 King George V of Great Britain becomes the first head of state to visit Italy under Mussolini; King George confers a Knighthood on Mussolini and meets with Pope Pius XI.
In Italy, Il Messagero exults over the recognition thus given to Fascism: “Italy sees with legitimate pride that the Sovereigns of the powerful British Empire are the first to visit this nation after the success of the bloodless Fascist revolution ...” Source: Manchester Guardian, May 7, 1922, p.7, reprinting in translation.The Vatican newspaper reports extensively on the events, including the visit of King George V to the Pope. Articles in translation
In England, the Morning Post reports that Pope Pius XI expressed his hope that the meeting with the King “would assist their mutual efforts for a satisfactory solution of the various problems of a religious character existing between them.” English original
King George V makes Mussolini a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, as reported in the Manchester Guardian.
May 13, 1923 Vice Consul Murphy reports about the May Day demonstrations in Munich.
He describes the intrusion of 2000 armed, uniformed Nazis in Munich on May Day.Murphy says the Socialist events were “an orderly celebration” that “proceeded quietly enough” before the Nazis arrived.
He reports the Bavarian Premier saying it is now a question of who is sovereign, the State or the Nazi Party.
May 14, 1923 Irish republican leaders meet and decide to end the Irish civil war.
May 15, 1923 Nazi military mobilization is described in a German government report as systematically preparing for a putsch to overthrow the Weimar Republic.
Source: Kellogg (2005), p.202, citing report in the files of the Reich Commissar for Oversight of Public Order, in the German Federal Archives in Berlin.Kellogg states that the military mobilization was well-funded by Thyssen financial interests and White Russians in Germany, and by money from Henry Ford transmitted via Boris Brasol. (pp. 203-204)
May 21, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter listings of Sunday worship schedules are juxtaposed with a prayer for Hitler.
German original with side-by-side English translationCitation: Völkischer Beobachter, Sun./Mon., May 20/21, 1923, p.4.
May 27, 1923 Albert Schlageter is executed by French occupation forces in the Ruhr district of Germany for sabotage and terrorism.
Schlageter, a Catholic, is immediately celebrated as a martyr and role model by the Nazis.
May 28, 1923 Vice Consul Murphy reports the “usual Sunday parades and exercises of Hitler’s ‘shock troops’” are now being held 60km outside Munich rather than within the city.
Excerpt of report
June 7, 1923 L’Osservatore Romano gives laudatory front page coverage to Baron von Cramer-Klett for a lecture at the University of Munich.
English translation
June 12, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter devotes its front page to a Hitler speech, a Catholic mass, and paramilitary celebrations in memory of Schlageter.
Translation of Hitler’s reported speechAbbot Schachleiter’s sermon at mass for Nazi and Völkisch paramilitaries
Description of liturgical practice with Nazi and Völkisch flags at mass
Further article in same issue about swastika flags at Schlageter’s funeral
Mid-1923 In the wake of Catholic liturgies for Nazi mobilization events, large numbers of young Catholic men, as well as Bavarian World War One veterans, join the Nazi Party.
Among them is a 23-year-old who regularly attended mass and went to confession, according to his diary entries, Heinrich Himmler, who became Nazi Party member no. 42,404 shortly after the Catholic Schlageter memorial ceremonies in Munich. Hastings (2010), pp. 154-155.Hastings describes how Himmler renounced Catholicism after the Putsch, during a time when Catholic Nazis either left the Nazi Party or rejected the Catholic faith. Hastings pp. 144ff.
Hastings describes the majority of Catholic priests who supported the Nazi mobilization of 1923 distancing themselves from the Nazi Party after the Putsch, and in some cases becoming opponents of Nazism.
June 17, 1923 Munich Kirchenzeitung publishes article by Father Erhard Schlund endorsing the Völkisch movement’s emphasis on “purity of the German race” and supporting “moderate” antisemitism.
English translation of article “Deutsch-Völkisches: Antisemitismus, Faschismus, Nationalsozialismus”
June 28, 1923 Pope Pius XI’s open letter to the French Government about their conduct toward Germany, including occupation of the Ruhr district, is published in L’Osservatore Romano.
July 1, 1923 Munich Kirchenzeitung exhorts Catholics to look to the Church as the infallible guide in the midst of the “errors and confusions” of the present era.
English translation of article “Mehr katholischen Mut!”
On the same page, the Kirchenzeitung publishes a short piece critical of the swastika.
English translation of article “Ave Crux!”
July 5, 1923 Pope Pius XI and Cardinal Gasparri privately communicate their decision that Father Luigi Sturzo must resign as head of the Italian Popular Party.
This decision removed a key political leader who opposed Mussolini’s efforts to increase his power, and signaled the Vatican’s withdrawal of support from the main Catholic political party of Italy.During the ensuing months, Fascist thugs attack priests and other supporters of the Popular Party, killing at least one priest. Pope Pius XI responds privately by claiming that Communism is a greater threat than Fascism. Source: Kertzer (2014), pp. 58-59.
July 11, 1923 German Social Democratic newspaper Vorwärts [Forward] publishes a front page article under the headline “Bavarian Priests as Supporters of the Swastika: Rebellion Against the Pope?”
Excerpt: “It is no secret that a large part of the Bavarian clergy completely devotes itself to supporting the swastika... In Bavaria there is today no nationalist event at which some Catholic priest does not give his ‘blessing.’”Source: Fr. Kevin Spicer, Hitler’s Priests (2008), p.33; Hastings (2010), pp. 108-109.
Hastings (2010) says the article appealed to the Vatican and the German Bishops “to stem the growing flow of Catholic clergy and laity into the Nazi movement.” (p.109)
July 24, 1923 Father Lorenz Pieper speaks at a Nazi gathering in Munich explaining that the swastika has close historical associations with Christianity, affirming the swastika as a “battle symbol” and “holy symbol” for the National Socialist movement.
English translationPieper, a diocesan priest from the Paderborn-Dortmund area of northern Germany, spends the spring and summer of 1923 in Bavaria giving talks that further the Nazi Party’s 1923 recruiting drive among Catholics.
Aug. 2, 1923 Munich theologian Fr. Erhard Schlund writes that the Nazi Party in Bavaria is a “Catholic-oriented movement,” in contrast to anti-Catholic Völkisch movements in other parts of Germany.
Source: Hastings (2010), p.110, citing Schlund, “Der Münchener Nationalsozialismus und die Religion” [Munich Nazism and Religion], Allgemeine Rundschau, Aug. 2, 1923, p.31.
Aug. 12, 1923 Wilhelm Cuno resigns as German Reich Chancellor.
Aug. 13, 1923 Gustav Stresemann of the German People’s Party, a Protestant, is appointed Chancellor of Germany.
Aug. 15, 1923 Bavarian Education Minister Franz Matt concludes that the Vatican’s latest position on the draft Bavaria-Vatican Concordat is unacceptable to the Bavarian Government and unlikely to get the support of the Bavarian parliament. Schmidt, supra.
Aug. 18, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter reports a field mass and consecration of flags by a priest from Augsburg for paramilitary forces.
English translation
Aug. 22, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter reports on a mass and SA stormtroop flag blessing for 2,000 Nazis in rural southwest Bavaria.
Translation of article describing outrage at the “unprecedented” denial of permission for flag consecration inside the church
Aug. 24, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter reports on a speech by Father Pieper to a Nazi gathering in Bavaria, at which Pieper affirms Nazi racism.
English translation including:“God himself created the peoples differently according to blood, character and type, and thus wants the distinctions of blood, Volk and races. He also desires that what he created be kept and preserved pure. So we must turn away from everything that impairs racial purity. For this reason the racial viewpoint of National Socialism corresponds completely with Christianity.”
Aug. 28, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter reports another speech of Father Pieper, saying that he demonstrated from pronouncements of “high princes of the Church” that racial purity is a duty and that antisemitism, rather than un-Christian, is a command of God.
German original
Aug. 1923 Regensburg diocese forbids a diocesan priest to conduct a swastika blessing.
Source: Fr. Kevin Spicer, Hitler’s Priests, p.33. Note: It is unclear whether this was an absolute prohibition or rather a refusal to allow such a blessing to occur inside a church, as occurred in southwest Bavaria during the same month; see August 22, above
Sept. 1, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter reports 50,000 attendees at a Völkisch paramilitary rally in Nuremberg.
English translation of articleThis “German Congress” leads immediately to the formation of the "Patriotic Fighting League," co-led by Hitler and German WWI General Erich Ludendorff, and two months later to the unsuccessful “Beer Hall Putsch” of November 8-9, 1923 in Munich.
Sept. 4-5, 1923 Cardinal Faulhaber reports to the Bavarian Bishops Conference on the parlous state of negotiations for a new Bavarian-Vatican Concordat.
Translation of report, noting the Bavarian Government’s distrust toward the Pope and the resistance of some Cathedral ChaptersThe minutes also reflect the Bavarian Bishops’ continuing emphasis on controlling what Catholics are allowed to read: “The pastoral letter against the bad press is to be read annually on the Second Sunday of Advent, not on a later day, from all pulpits.”
Note: Nuncio Pacelli later described, in a 1929 report to Rome, the "grievous" obstructing of the Concordat by Cathedral Chapters and Theological Faculties.
Sept. 11, 1923 Pacelli writes Bavarian Education Minister Franz Matt that if the Bavarian Government does not yield and agree to the Pope having power to choose Bishops, the Government will be responsible for the failure of the Concordat negotiations.
German original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Sept. 12 and 14, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter headlines proclaim the “criminal” and “treasonous” nature of the “November Republics” of Bavaria and Berlin.
English translations of headlines and excerpts of articles
Sept. 13, 1923 Successful coup in Spain by Miguel Primo de Rivera.
Spanish King Alfonso XIII legitimizes the coup by appointing Primo de Rivera as prime minister, similar to Italian King Victor Emmanuel legitimizing Mussolini’s power-play in Rome in 1922.
Sept. 15, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter devotes banner headline to Spanish coup, proclaiming “Fascist Contribution by Spanish Circles”
English translation of Völkischer Beobachter headlines proclaiming successful Fascist coup in SpainNote: According to historians Gerhard Besier and Anthony Rhodes, Vatican Secretary of State Gasparri tells a British diplomat that the military government “might very well introduce a healthier atmosphere.” Besier 156, quoting A. Rhodes, Papst, 96 note 1, citing Gasparri to Dormer, British embassy (21 Sep 1923).
Sept. 17, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter headlines proclaim “Bolshevik Germany – The Nature of Bolshevism – The Jewish Dictatorship in Russia – Jewish Decomposition of Germany” alongside a front page article celebrating the Sept. 13 Fascist coup in Spain.
German original
Fall 1923 Nazi Party membership exceeds 55,000.
Source: Hastings (2010), p.138, citing Maser (1965), p.376.It took three years for the Nazi Party to attain a membership of 3,000 in early Fall 1922, and one year to grow from 3,000 to 55,000.
Hastings observes: “The Catholic-oriented membership drive, while by no means the only relevant factor, was without question an essential component of the rapidly growing Nazi appeal in and around Munich throughout the summer of 1923.” (p.138)
Sept. 24, 1923 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about his discussion in Berlin with the new Reich Chancellor, Stresemann, about dangers of Bolshevik revolution in Germany, and the National Socialists on the opposite extreme.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Sept. 24, 1923 Hitler appeals to combat veterans to enlist in the Nazi SA.
English translation of Hitler’s appeal
Sept. 26, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter headlines proclaim that Hitler has now been named the sole Führer of the Patriotic Fighting League.
This development places Hitler over General Ludendorff, who commands the military forces of the Patriotic Fighting League.English translation of articles on page one
Page one features an announcement that Hitler will speak sequentially at each of 14 mass gatherings the next evening in the large beer halls of Munich.
Sept. 27, 1923 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about his meeting with new Bavarian Commissar Gustav von Kahr, who says he wants to work gradually with Hitler, viewing the Nazis as overly “ardent” but pursuing a “good cause.”
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Sept. 29, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter reports the appointment of Gustav von Kahr as Commissar of Bavaria with power to rule by decree.
English translation of article about von Kahr, who is a monarchist supporter of the Wittelsbach family.The article presents the Nazi viewpoint that monarchism is irrelevant to the real struggle between “Jewish-internationalism” and the German Völkisch movement.
Sept. 30, 1923 Hitler prepares for Nazi uprising in Bavaria by ordering all local Nazi Party organizations in Bavaria to join in the Patriotic Fighting League.
English translation of announcement in Völkischer Beobachter
Oct. 1, 1923 US Vice Consul Murphy in Munich reports to Washington the decree of the Bavarian State Government, signed by all cabinet ministers, appointing Gustav von Kahr as State Commissar with dictatorial powers.
Text of report
Oct. 3, 1923 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about Commissar von Kahr, Hitler and the Nazis, and Bavarian Concordat negotiations.
Italian original and Germany summary at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Oct. 4, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter runs banner headline “The Imploding Reich Government” along with a notice that Commissar Kahr imposed a 10-day publication ban on the Völkischer Beobachter.
Oct. 5, 1923 Gasparri instructs Pacelli that the Pope wants him to divide his time between Munich and Berlin, because the Reich Government and the Diplomatic Corps desire his presence in Berlin.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Oct. 6, 1923 Bavarian Catholic political leader Heinrich Held writes to Cardinal Faulhaber imploring him to speak out and stop the trend of Bavarian Catholics, including clergy, to support and follow the Nazi Party.
Translation of letter, including statement that the current danger is “enormously great”
Oct. 7, 1923 Pacelli writes Archbishop Pizzardo in the Vatican to explain that despite Gasparri's instruction he must stay in Munich to avoid further delays in the Bavarian Concordat negotiations.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Oct. 8, 1923 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that Bavarian separatist and monarchist movements will not move forward under Commissar von Kahr.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Oct. 13, 1923 Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, writes a desperate letter to Cardinal Faulhaber asking him to speak up for the Weimar Republic.
Letter in English translation
Oct. 23, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter continues its rhetoric against Weimar Republic “treason” and the Nazis’ mission with the banner headline: “The Only Task: Rooting Out Marxist High Treason”
German originalOn this date, Hitler tells a Patriotic Fighting League meeting that Bavarian Commissar von Kahr cannot be the one to lead a putsch against the Weimar Republic. Kellogg (2005), p.208.
Nov. 4, 1923 In his All Souls’ Day sermon at the Munich Cathedral, Cardinal Faulhaber denounces those who would deny Jews food and shelter.
Excerpt: “With blind hatred against Jews and Catholics, against farmers and Bavarians, no wounds will be healed.” Source: Bayerischer Kurier, Nov. 6, 1923.The Völkischer Beobachter responds by accusing Cardinal Faulhaber of inconsistency with his statements to the Munich Catholic Congress, and by accusing the churches of "protecting the Jews from time immemorial." Translation of article
Nov. 5, 1923 Bavarian Commissar von Kahr summons the leaders of the Patriotic Fighting League to inform them that the Bavarian government, police and army will not participate in a putsch against the Weimar Republic. Kellogg (2005), pp. 208-209.
Nov. 6, 1923 US Ambassador to Germany, Alanson Houghton, cables Washington to describe the precarious position of Chancellor Stresemann, whom Houghton expects to fall imminently because he has “lost the confidence of Bavaria.”
Text of cable
Nov. 6, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter steps up its campaign against the Weimar Republic, placing accusations about “treason” and “criminals” in many headlines.
English translations of headlines on page one
This issue also includes:
A piece entitled “An Arab Hate-Prayer Against Zionism”A news item about the German Government’s effort to stabilize the hyperinflated Mark
A series of articles on page 2 about “the November crime,” desperate efforts to save the Weimar Republic from overthrow, and “Fear of the National Socialist Movement”
The article on “Cardinal Faulhaber as Jew-Protector”
An appeal for German men, including students, to enlist in the Nazi paramilitary forces, and for all Germans to donate warm clothing, shoes, and old army uniforms.
Nov. 6, 1923 Cardinal Faulhaber replies to Chancellor Stresemann’s letter of October 13, 1923, declining Stresemann’s requests on grounds of health and Church laws against political involvement.
English translation
Nov. 8, 1923 On the fifth anniversary of the “November crime” that gave rise to the Weimar Republic, Hitler launches his Putsch at the Bürgerbräu Beer Hall in Munich.
The Putsch initially appears successful, as Commissar Kahr and two other key figures declare their support of Hitler to the large crowd in the Beer Hall.Also on November 8th, Cardinal Faulhaber writes Nuncio Pacelli that an acceptable draft of the Bavarian-Vatican Concordat is at hand. Schmidt (2000), p.211, citing Munich Archdiocesan Archive, Nachlass Faulhaber, file no. 7480 (document not included in L. Volk’s edition of the Faulhaber Papers).
Nov. 8-9 (nighttime) Vice Consul Robert Murphy sends cable stating putsch by Hitler and Ludendorff has succeeded, has the support of the key political and military figures of Bavaria, and will proceed to march on Berlin.
Text of cable
Nov. 9 (early morning, around 3 a.m.) Proclamations signed by Franz Matt, Bavarian Minister of Culture and Religion, are posted around Munich, declaring that the constitutional state government still stands, and those acting against it will be dealt with as traitors.
Translation of posterSome historians assert that Matt was dining with Cardinal Faulhaber and Nuncio Pacelli on the evening of Nov. 8th. E.g., Charles Flood, Hitler (1989), p.508.
Nov. 9, 1923 Völkischer Beobachter publishes article about the exchange of letters between German Chancellor Stresemann and Cardinal Faulhaber. English translation
Nov. 9, 1923 (10 a.m.) Cable from US Ambassador in Berlin says German Government has decided to fight the Putsch in Bavaria, and Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria has ordered his friends to oppose the Putsch.
Text of cable
Nov. 9, 1923 (morning to early afternoon) Hitler and Ludendorff learn that Kahr and the Bavarian Government are opposing the coup.
Nazi forces march to government buildings in Munich and are stopped as they approach the Odeonsplatz [Odeon Plaza] by Bavarian police and military forces, who fire on them, killing some and dispersing the Nazi forces, thus ending the Hitler-Ludendorff Putsch.
Nov. 9, 1923 (midday or afternoon) Bavaria’s Ambassador to the Vatican sends a cable reporting his discussion about the Hitler Putsch with Cardinal Gasparri.
Translated text of cable, noting that the Vatican press is not commenting on the Putsch, and explaining Vatican concerns over a dictatorship in Bavaria in reference to the Concordat: a Concordat entered into with a dictator might later be repudiated by representatives of the people.
Nov. 10, 1923 L’Osservatore Romano publishes articles datelined Nov. 9 showing a widespread belief on the morning of Nov. 9, in Berlin, France, the United States, and elsewhere, that the Hitler-Ludendorff Putsch had succeeded.
English translation
Nov. 11, 1923 L’Osservatore Romano publishes the official German Government report about the suppression of the Putsch and the taking of Hitler and Ludendorff as prisoners.
English translation of headlines
Nov. 14, 1923 Pacelli reports to Gasparri on the anti-Catholic character of the Nazi uprising in Munich; this is the earliest documented criticism of Nazism by Pacelli.
English translation
Nov. 1923 - Spring 1924 Protests continue against Cardinal Faulhaber for allegedly betraying the Putsch by influencing von Kahr, Matt, etc. during the night of November 8-9 to turn against Hitler and the Putschists. The Cardinal denies involvement.
Nov. 15, 1923 Germany introduces a new Mark pegged at 4.2 Marks to one US Dollar, ending the German hyperinflation of 1922-1923.
Nov. 16, 1923 US Ambassador in Berlin reports that Chancellor Stresemann’s government is about to fall, that the head of the German Army, von Seeckt, now dominates the situation, and that Germany is now a republic in name only.
Text of cable
Nov. 23, 1923 Gustav Stresemann resigns as German Reich Chancellor.
Nov. 30, 1923 Wilhelm Marx of the Catholic Center Party becomes Chancellor.
Dec. 1923 Negotiations for a new Concordat between Bavaria and the Vatican, which had proceeded slowly over the preceding several years, now move rapidly to conclusion.
Dec. 4, 1923 Cardinal Faulhaber writes to Kahr, saying it is “unbelievable what lies and slanders have been spread” about the events in November.
Source: L. Volk, Faulhaber Papers, vol. 1, pp. 320-321.
Dec. 7, 1923 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that the terms of the Vatican-Bavaria Concordat have been “quasi-definitively” agreed, and that he has received assurances that the Reich Government will not object; but Chancellor Marx has said it is impossible to fulfill Pacelli's repeated requests for an immediate Concordat between the Vatican and the German Reich.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Dec. 7, 1923 Cardinal Faulhaber meets with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Gasparri, in Rome, about Hitler Putsch, money to respond to protests, the new Vatican-Bavaria Concordat, and other issues.
English translation of Faulhaber’s notes of the meeting
Dec. 8, 1923 Cardinal Faulhaber meets with Pope Pius XI about Hitler Putsch, monetary donations, slanders, Concordat, other issues.
English translation of Faulhaber’s notes of the meeting
Dec. 28, 1923 Archbishop Schulte of Cologne writes to Faulhaber expressing his sympathies for the attacks Faulhaber has endured recently, in which “parts of the student body showed themselves so lacking in character.”
Source: Munich Archdiocesan Archive, Nachlass Faulhaber, reprinted in L. Volk, Faulhaber Papers, vol. 1, p.324.
Dec. 30, 1923 Nuncio Pacelli writes Heinrich Held concerning the Bavarian Concordat, “I trust in your adroit and loyally solicitous collaboration for the interests of the Church all the more in the imminent concluding negotiations.” Kessler (1971), p.486.
1924
Jan. 9, 1924 A Bavarian Bishop writes Cardinal Faulhaber, expressing sympathy over the continuing slanders and calumnies against the Cardinal.
Bishop Mergel of Eichstätt writes that it is a “bad sign” that the revolutionary Hitler and the anti-Rome Ludendorff have “such a large following even today.”Source: Munich Archdiocese Archive, Nachlass Faulhaber, reprinted in L. Volk, Faulhaber Papers, vol. 1, pp. 329-330.
Jan. 26, 1924 Bavarian Education Ministry, under Franz Matt, forwards to Nuncio Pacelli the final version of the Bavarian-Vatican Concordat. Schmidt, p.211.
Feb. 1924 Gustav von Kahr resigns as Commissar of Bavaria. Authority reverts to Eugen von Knilling, the State Minister President of Bavaria.
Feb. 15, 1924 Cardinal Faulhaber praises Hitler in a speech to the Catholic Academic Committee of Munich Universities and refers to Hitler’s movement as an “originally pure spring” that became poisoned by anti-Catholic elements. Fuller translation
Faulhaber later includes these words in a book he publishes in 1925.The “originally pure” ideas of the National Socialist party, to judge from its original Party Program proclaimed by Hitler on February 24, 1920, consisted of rejection of the Versailles Treaty followed by a series of antisemitic legislative and policy proposals. Faulhaber’s Archdiocesan newspaper approved similar measures in articles on the 2nd and 9th of May 1920, thus justifying any informed person to conclude these were aspects of the “originally pure spring.” The same paper promoted the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory, thus certifying it as “originally pure” to Bavarian Catholics, before Hitler incorporated it into his public propaganda.
The Nazi Program of 1920 also included socialist-type policyproposals, but there is no contemporary evidence from spring 1920 that Cardinal Faulhaber or publications under his authority had any favorable inclination toward socialist policies during the first months of the National Socialist party.
Feb. 26, 1924 Start of month-long trial of Hitler and other Putschists for treason, which leads to a conviction of Hitler and others, and an acquittal of Ludendorff.
Mar. 11, 1924 Letter from Cardinal Faulhaber to Cardinal Bertram, Prince-Bishop of Breslau, complaining of continuing agitation among Catholic students against Faulhaber and the Catholic Church in relation to the Hitler Putsch.
English translation
Mar. 20, 1924 German Reich Chancellor Marx advises the Bavarian Government that he will not object to the Bavarian-Vatican Concordat.
Mar. 27, 1924 Hitler’s speech at the conclusion of his trial for treason admits leading the Putsch but says it is the Weimar Republic officials who committed treason against Germany, and he was taking the patriotic initiative to undo their treason.
Mar. 29, 1924 Bavaria-Vatican Concordat is signed by Nuncio Pacelli and representatives of the Bavarian state government.
Apr. 1, 1924 Hitler is imprisoned in comfortable quarters in Landsberg Prison, where he dictates his book Mein Kampf, aided by Rudolf Hess and Father Bernhard Stempfle; Hitler’s sentence for treason is five years, with eligibility for parole after six months.
Apr. 6, 1924 In elections of delegates to the Bavarian Landtag [state parliament], a Nazi-Völkisch coalition wins 35% of the votes in Munich, outpolling all other parties in that city and cutting deeply into the Catholic Bavarian Peoples Party’s vote total.
In the days following the elections, large Catholic rallies are held in Munich, at which thousands of Catholics pledge fidelity to Cardinal Faulhaber and the Pope.
Apr. 6, 1924 In Italian parliamentary elections, Fascists win majority of seats.
In its April 5th issue, Civiltà Cattolica says the Fascists have done more for the Catholic Church than the Catholic Popular Party, including the doubling of government payments to Bishops.Fascist thugs attack Popular Party activists and their priest supporters in areas that voted strongly for that party. Source: Kertzer (2014), p.66.
Apr. 24, 1924 Nuncio Pacelli reports to Rome that the Nazis are conducting a “vulgar and violent campaign” in the press against Catholics and Jews.
Source: Rychlak (2010), p.45.Rychlak states: “From this time on, updates on National Socialism were always present in Pacelli’s reports to Rome due to the threat that it clearly posed to Christianity and the Catholic Church.” (p.45)
Apr. 26, 1924 Nuncio Pacelli recommends that the Vatican quickly advance beatifications and canonizations of some Bavarian Catholics in order to counteract the continuing agitation in Bavaria against the Catholic hierarchy in the wake of the failed Nazi Putsch.
Source: G. Besier, The Holy See and Hitler’s Germany (2007), p.35, citing Vatican Archives, ANM, pos. 396, fasc. 7, fo. 76v.
May 1, 1924 Nuncio Pacelli identifies nationalism or National Socialism as the most dangerous “heresy” of the era, in a report to Vatican Secretary of State Gasparri.
Sources: Compare G. Besier, The Holy See and Hitler’s Germany, p.35, citing ANM, pos. 396, fasc. 7, p. 79v (“nationalism is perhaps the most perilous heresy of our time”) with R. Rychlak, Hitler, the War, and the Pope (2010), p.44, citing ANM, 396, fasc. 7, pos. XIV, Bavaria, p.75 (“Nazism is probably the most dangerous heresy of our time”).Note: The online publication of Nuncio Pacelli’s reports more recently shows that this report refers to nationalism and attacks by the German Völkisch press upon the Pope, Cardinals including Faulhaber, and the Nuncio; none of the attacking press organs cited by Pacelli were identified in his report as Nazi.
The original Italian says “il nazionalismo sia forse la più pericolosa eresia dei tempi nostri.” Citation: Pacelli to Gasparri, 1 May 1924, Dokument-Nr. 181, online at www.pacelli-edition.de/dokument.html?idno=181 (accessed Sept. 1, 2020)
May 4, 1924 Nuncio Pacelli writes, “The heresy of Nazism puts state and race above everything, above true religion, above the truth and above the justice.”
Source: Rychlak, p.44, citing ANM, 365, fasc. 7, pos. XIV, Bavaria, p.83.Note: The online publication of this report of Nuncio Pacelli shows that he was referring to nationalism, not Nazism, in a second report (compare report of May 1, 1924) about propaganda from German Völkisch sources, none of which were identified in the report as Nazi.
Original Italian: “... la eresia del nazionalismo, la quale cioè pone l’idolo nazionale o di razza al di sopra di tutto, della veea religione, della verità e della giustizia.” Citation: Pacelli to Gasparri, 4 May 1924, Dokument-Nr. 182, online at www.pacelli-edition.de/dokument.html?idno=182 (accessed Sept. 1, 2020)
May 30, 1924 Italian opposition leader Giacomo Matteotti speaks in parliament to demand the annulment of the April elections on grounds of voter intimidation. Source: Kertzer (2014), p.69.
June 10, 1924 Mussolini’s henchmen murder Matteotti, sparking the months-long “Matteotti Crisis,” which threatens to bring down Mussolini as Prime Minister of Italy.
Summer 1924 In Italy, leaders of the Catholic People’s Party and the Socialist Party work to form a coalition to force out Mussolini as Prime Minister.
As Mussolini loses the support of conservative newspapers and other elements in Italy, he despairs over the impending demise of his regime.Pope Pius XI takes steps to keep Mussolini in power, including articles in L’Osservatore Romano and Civiltà Cattolica telling Catholics they have a religious obligation to respect and obey the Mussolini Government.
Mussolini sets up a commission to review laws affecting Church-State relations; it includes three Church representatives secretly designated by the Vatican; the commission’s work leads by 1926 to the beginning of negotiations that produce the 1929 Lateran Treaty and Concordat.
Source: Kertzer (2014), pp. 74-76, 99; see articles below, Aug. 16, Sept. 12, Sept. 14 and translations.
July 19, 1924 Civiltà Cattolica denounces violence as a characteristic of Communist, Socialist, anarchist, liberal, Masonic, and Fascist movements.
English translation
July 23, 1924 Cardinal Faulhaber and all Bavarian Bishops refuse a request from the Reich Government to celebrate the anniversary of the Weimar Republic Constitution on August 11th by ringing church bells.
Source: L. Volk, Faulhaber Papers, vol. 1, pp. 337-338.
Aug. 2, 1924 Civiltà Cattolica changes its previous messaging against Fascist violence and now tells Catholics they must support and obey the “legitimately constituted” government of Mussolini.
English translation
Aug. 16, 1924 Civiltà Cattolica publishes lengthy article warning Italian Catholics against forming a coalition with Socialists.
English translation
In late summer or early fall 1924, the Vatican forces into exile Father Luigi Sturzo, the most influential anti-Mussolini voice in the Catholic People’s Party of Italy.
Sept. 10, 1924 Bavarian Bishops Conference prohibits blessings of political party flags such as swastika, and proposes three Bavarian candidates for beatification and canonization, thus furthering what Nuncio Pacelli proposed to Rome on Apr. 26, 1924.
Translation of minutes of Bavarian Bishops Conference
Sept. 12, 1924 L’Osservatore Romano reports that Jewish immigration to Palestine is diminishing, because worldwide Jewish hopes of a free and sovereign state have been disappointed by the reality of a British colony exploited for British economic interests.
English translation
Sept. 12, 1924 L’Osservatore Romano reports on a widely publicized address of Pope Pius XI, prohibiting the Catholic People’s Party from cooperating with Socialists.
English translation
Sept. 14, 1924 When the Catholic People’s Party calls for freedom for Italian Catholics to make decisions in politics based on conscience, L’Osservatore Romano responds that conscience means obeying the Pope’s directive.
English translation of articles in three consecutive issues of the Vatican paper on this issue
Oct. 3, 1924 Pacelli writes Abp. Giuseppe Pizzardo asking for Vatican guidance concerning Catholics in the right-wing German Nationalist People’s Party, reporting his meeting with their leaders and his pressing them to produce votes for ratification of the Bavarian-Vatican Concordat. English translation
Dec. 1924 German national parliament (Reichstag) elections; Nazi Party receives 3% of votes.
Dec. 19, 1924 Cardinal Faulhaber writes Pope Pius XI, proposing candidates from Germany to advance toward sainthood.
The letter concludes by praising Nuncio Pacelli for “the work of the century” in bringing the Concordat to the point where it will be ratified early in the new year, 1925, which is a Holy Year for pilgrimages to Rome. L. Volk, Faulhaber Papers, vol. 1, pp. 352-353.
Dec. 20, 1924 Civiltà Cattolica publishes “An Episode of Zionism in Palestine” demonstrating the “rabid animosity brought by Zionism into the Holy City.”
English translation
Dec. 20, 1924 Hitler is released from prison.
1925
Jan. 3, 1925 Mussolini gives a defiant speech taking personal responsibility for Fascist violence in Italy and challenging his opponents to stop him.
“The third of January marked the beginning of Mussolini’s dictatorship ...” Adrian Lyttelton, The Seizure of Power (2004), p.267.
Jan. 4, 1925 Hitler meets with Bavarian Minister-President Heinrich Held.
Hitler promises to oppose anti-Catholicism in the Völkisch movement, and Held grants Hitler permission to publish the Völkischer Beobachter and refound the Nazi Party after a more than year-long ban on both.The meeting was arranged by Theodor von Cramer-Klett. Hastings (2010), p.156; Kershaw (1998), p.262.
Hastings observes (p.157) that after his time in prison, Hitler never professes Catholic faith, rather he expresses toleration of Catholics and Protestants equally within the Nazi Party, and admiration for the organizational strength of the Roman Catholic Church, as seen in Mein Kampf later in 1925.
1925 Cardinal Faulhaber’s book Deutsches Ehrgefühl und Katholisches Gewissen appears.
The book praises Fascism and Hitler in particular, repeating Faulhaber’s words from February 15, 1924 about Nazism being “an originally pure spring.”Excerpts in English translation
Cardinal Faulhaber’s book contains an Afterword by Faulhaber dated January 8, 1925.
Jan. 15, 1925 Wilhelm Marx resigns as German Reich Chancellor and is succeeded by Hans Luther.
Jan. 24, 1925 The Bavaria-Vatican Concordat is ratified in the Bavarian Landtag by a vote of 73 to 52.
Feb. 3, 1925 Letter from Cardinal Faulhaber to all German Bishops outside Bavaria praises Nuncio Pacelli for his “towering spirit and unlimited patience” in bringing the five-year-long Concordat negotiations over “many critical times and deadlocks.” L. Volk, Faulhaber Papers, vol. 1, p.359.
Feb. 7, 1925 Civiltà Cattolica publishes an article-by-article summary of the Bavaria-Vatican Concordat.
English translation
Feb. 8, 1925 Friedrich Ebert dies, having served as President of Germany since his election by the Weimar constitutional assembly in February 1919.
Cardinal Faulhaber refuses to allow churches to rings their bells in Ebert’s honor. Kershaw (1998), p.268.
Mar. 29, 1925 In the first nationwide election for President of the German Reich, no candidate receives a majority, resulting in a three-way runoff election in April.
Apr. 26, 1925 Runoff election for President is won by Paul von Hindenburg (48%) against Wilhelm Marx of the Center Party (45%) and Ernst Thälmann of the Communist Party (6%).
June 30, 1925 Sir Herbert Samuel steps down as High Commissioner for Palestine and is replaced four months later by a British General who is not Jewish.
July 1925 Hitler’s Mein Kampf appears.
In it Hitler clearly states the meaning of the swastika as the symbol of the antisemitic "mission" of the Nazi Party.The word “mission” occurs more than two dozen times in the German text, along with several occurrences of the more Germanic synonym “Sendung.”
Hastings (2010) writes that after the Putsch Hitler “demonstrated an increasing obsession with justifying his ‘mission’ in near-messianic terms.” (p.163)
Aug. 20, 1925 Eugenio Pacelli moves from Munich to Berlin five years and two months after being named Vatican Nuncio to Berlin, and seven months after the ratification of the Bavaria-Vatican Concordat.
Contemporaries and historians attest to the high regard in which Nuncio Pacelli was held by leading Germans, and to his detailed knowledge of German and European political matters.Hastings describes articles in the Völkischer Beobachter denigrating Nuncio Pacelli in the August 23-24 and August 25 issues. (pp. 158, 241)
The Nazi paper also attacked Cardinal Faulhaber repeatedly. Hastings, p.159, with citations.
Dec. 11, 1925 Pius XI issues his encyclical Quas Primas, saying that peace will be attained only through the Kingdom of Christ, calling for the “restoration of the Empire of Our Lord” over individuals and states, and proclaiming that the Catholic Church “is the Kingdom of Christ on earth.”
English version at Vatican website (cf. paragraphs 1 and 12)
1925 L’Osservatore Romano and Civiltà Cattolica neither repeat nor revoke promotions of Jewish-Communist myth during the year 1925.
1926
1926 During this year, Jewish immigration to Palestine drops to less than 14,000, compared to 30,000 in 1925.
May 17, 1926 Wilhelm Marx of the Catholic Center Party becomes German Reich Chancellor for the second time.
May 28, 1926 In Portugal a military coup led by General Gomez da Costa ushers in five decades of dictatorship.
July 6, 1926 Völkischer Beobachter features Hitler’s words about the "holiness" [Heiligtum" of the swastika flag stained with the blood of those who died in the Putsch.
The article described Hitler’s personal "consecration" ceremony for this “Blood Flag,” which was then repeated annually. Hastings, p.165.
Sept. 1926 Pope Pius XI’s private emissary to Mussolini, Father Pietro Tacchi Venturi, S.J. gives Mussolini a pamphlet Sionismo e Cattolicismo [Zionism and Catholicism] with arguments that Judaism is using Bolshevism and revolution “to destroy current society and dominate the world by themselves...”
Source: Kertzer (2014), p.89, citing Italian Foreign Ministry archives.
Autumn 1926 Vatican condemns French nationalist, antisemitic group Action Française.
Source: Carlo Falconi, The Popes of the Twentieth Century (1967), p.181.
Nov. 18, 1926 Pope Pius XI issues his encyclical Iniquis Afflictisque on persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico.
The encyclical decries those Mexican Catholics who are conducting “a cruel persecution against their own brethren, Our most beloved children of Mexico.”English version at Vatican website
1926 L’Osservatore Romano and Civiltà Cattolica neither repeat nor revoke promotions of Jewish-Communist myth during the year 1926.
1927
1927 During this year, Jewish immigration to Palestine drops to around 3,000, compared to 30,000 in 1925 and 14,000 in 1926. Numbers remain in the low single digit thousands for the next several years.
Mar. 2, 1927 Hitler writes a letter to a Catholic priest in Bavaria.
Translation of letter expressing Hitler’s desire that the German Volk stand united, without Protestant-Catholic distinctions, “with the swastika on the left or sword-side as the banner of the struggle in this world, but the cross of the Lord on the right as the symbol of faith and the struggle for the eternal.”
Sept. 1927 Louis Billot resigns as Cardinal, immediately following a meeting with Pope Pius XI.
The meeting and resignation occurred after Billot questioned the Pope’s condemnation of Action Française and said the Pope should not control the activities of the French monarchist movement.Source: “Religion: Billot v. Pope,” Time, Oct. 3, 1927.
Sept. 24, 1927 Cardinal Faulhaber writes the Bavarian Bishops that he cannot allow the ringing of church bells in Munich on the occasion of the 80th birthday of President Hindenburg.
His explanation: “I cannot consider Herr President Hindenburg as the successor of the King of Bavaria without making it into a political demonstration.” L. Volk, Faulhaber Papers, vol. 1, p.421.
Dec. 17, 1927 Civiltà Cattolica’s lead article “After Ten Years of Bolshevism” contains nothing about Judaism.
Headlines and summaries of articles on Palestine, England and Bolshevism in this journal during 1927
1927 L’Osservatore Romano and Civiltà Cattolica neither repeat nor revoke promotions of Jewish-Communist myth during the year 1927.
Civiltà Cattolica’s lengthy articles during 1927 on Palestine, British religious circumstances, and Islam do not contain attacks on Zionism, criticisms of British administration in Palestine, or advocacy for the cause of Muslims and Arabs in Palestine.
1928
Jan.-Feb. 1928 Civiltà Cattolica features two lengthy articles on Bolshevism, with no mention of Jews or Judaism.
Titles and citations of articles
Mar. 14, 1928 Prince Löwenstein writes Cardinal Faulhaber expressing his understanding that Pope Pius XI wishes to consolidate all activities of the Catholic laity into “Catholic Action.”
Source: Munich Archdiocese Archive, reprinted in L. Volk, Faulhaber Papers, vol. 1, p.423.
Mar. 20, 1928 Cardinal Faulhaber writes Prince Löwenstein explaining why the consolidation into Catholic Action has not been accomplished yet in Germany, and says it will be in the future.
English translation
Mar. 25, 1928 Vatican suppresses the Friends of Israel and simultaneously issues official condemnation of antisemitism.
English translation of Vatican decree
May 19, 1928 Civiltà Cattolica publishes article “The Jewish Peril and the ‘Friends of Israel,’” explaining that the March 25 decree condemns hatred but not rational defense against Jews.
Defense is acceptable against aggressions such as financial and commercial domination and Jewish-Masonic-Bolshevik conspiratorial activity. The article debunks the Protocols as “fantastical” like the works of Leo Taxil.
May 20, 1928 German national parliament (Reichstag) elections; Nazi Party receives 2.6% of votes.
June 28, 1928 Hermann Müller of the Social Democrat Party becomes German Reich Chancellor.
Sept. 5-9, 1928 Archbishop Pacelli inaugurates Catholic Action in Germany at a nationwide Catholic Congress of representatives of Catholic organizations and prominent Catholic individuals, at Magdeburg, Germany.
Sept. 1928 Father Ludwig Kaas becomes head of Germany’s Center Party, the first time a priest has held a leadership position in the Party during its more than 50-year history.
1929
Feb. 11, 1929 Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty and Concordat, establishing the sovereign city state of the Vatican, formally known as the Holy See, comprising somewhat more than 40 hectares or 100 acres within the Vatican walls, surrounded by the City of Rome.
Feb. 22, 1929 Völkischer Beobachter publishes speech by Hitler saying the Vatican has shown it trusts Fascism more than liberal democracy, and proposing that Fascists in Germany pursue the same course with the Church as Mussolini has done in Italy.
English translation
June 14, 1929 Vatican Concordat with German state of Prussia is signed by Nuncio Pacelli and representatives of the Prussian state government.
Nov. 18, 1929 Nuncio Pacelli’s report to Vatican about Germany says it is a “delusion that one could be a Catholic and a socialist.”
Source: Pacelli to Parosi, 18 Nov 1929, AA.EE.SS., Germania, Pos. 511, fasc. 24, fo. 16v, cited in Besier.In this report Pacelli is “massively critical” of the Center Party. Besier, p.72.
Nov. 27, 1929 L’Osservatore Romano article says international Jewry is allied with Bolshevism. Source: Lill (1970), p. 364 & n. 28
Dec. 12, 1929 Archbishop Pacelli leaves Berlin for Rome.
Dec. 16, 1929 Eugenio Pacelli is made a Cardinal.
1930
Feb. 7, 1930 Cardinal Pacelli becomes Vatican Secretary of State.
Feb. 28, 1930 Cardinal Faulhaber sends a letter to the Bavarian head of the paramilitary Stahlhelm organization, employing colorful turns of phrase against Bolshevism while professing to approve only spiritual weapons against it, and rejecting the idea of an anti-Bolshevik “combat front.”
English translation
Mar. 29, 1930 Heinrich Brüning of the Catholic Center Party becomes German Reich Chancellor.
Sept. 6, 1930 A military coup in Argentina ends six decades of a stable democratic republic whose economy had grown to fourth in the world in per capita income.
The succeeding decade, known in Argentina as the decada infama, is marked by corrupt government, rigged elections and increasing antisemitism.
Sept. 14, 1930 German national parliament election; Nazi Party skyrockets from a dozen seats in the Reichstag to more than 100, with over 18% of votes, making it second only to the Social Democratic Party.
Sept. 1930 Vicar General of Mainz confirms in writing the diocesan policy that Catholics may not join the Nazi Party and will be denied the sacraments if they do.
The Mainz Diocese explains that Hitler’s Party’s policy of “racial hatred” is un-Christian and un-Catholic.Sources: K. Scholder vol.1, 132-134; H. Müller, Katholische Kirche und Nationalsozialismus, Dokumente 1930-1935 (1963), 13-15; Cornwell, Hitler’s Pope (1999), p.109 (following Scholder).
Sept. 1930 Cardinal Pacelli meets with Fr. Ludwig Kaas, head of German Catholic Center Party, in Innsbruck, Austria.
The German ambassador to the Vatican reports that this meeting may be with a view toward “accepting relations with Hitler.” Besier, p.83 and note 49, citing Report of the German Embassy to the Holy See, Sept. 30, 1930, No. 229, A633, Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes; Botschaft beim Heiligen Stuhl, Best. 29, vol. 1/Lfd. No. 441, unfoliated.
Oct. 11, 1930 L’Osservatore Romano takes a stance against Nazism as “incompatible with the Catholic conscience, just as in general it is completely incompatible with membership of socialist parties of all shades.”
1931
Jan. 1931 L’Osservatore Romano “modifies its grounds for opposition to Nazism” because of “elements in its program that are incompatible with Catholic teaching.”
K. Scholder, op. cit., p.150, citing J. Nötges, Nationalsozialismus und Katholizismus, p.27.
Feb. 10, 1931 Bavarian Bishops Conference issues a pastoral statement to clergy warning against Nazism “so long and so far as it proclaims culture-policy views that are not compatible with Catholic doctrine.”
The statement strictly forbids priests from cooperating with the Nazi movement.It bans Nazi formations and flags at worship services.
English translation of Bishops’ Pastoral Instruction
Feb-Mar. 1931 Multiple Catholic Bishops conferences in Germany adopt policies against Catholics joining the Nazi Party.
Mar. 17, 1931 Proclamation by the Bishops of the Paderborn Church Conference denounces National Socialism and its swastika symbol.
English translation
April 1931 According to the diary of a French Cardinal in the Vatican, Pope Pius XI rebukes Cardinal Pacelli for approving the blessing of a Fascist flag.
Source: Ventresca (2013), pp. 67, 332, citing the diaries of Cardinal Baudrillart, Les Carnets du Alfred Baudrillart (Paris, Editions du Cerf, 1994-2003), 1931 vol., pp. 714, 818-819.
April 1931 Joseph Wirth of Center Party in Rome has contentious audience with Pius XI. Scholder 151, citing R. Morsey, Zentrumspartei, 301
May 15, 1931 Pope Pius XI issues his encyclical on the reconstruction of the social order, Quadragesimo Anno.
June 20, 1931 Civiltà Cattolica article “Bolshevism: Destroyer of All Christian Civilization” says the Pope is raising “a voice of warning to the peoples” about this enemy of God and mankind, with no mention of Jews or Judaism.
English translation
June 29, 1931 Papal encyclical Non Abbiamo Bisogno (“We Have No Need”) protests against Mussolini’s persecution of Catholic Action in Italy - defined by Pius XI as “the participation and the collaboration of the laity with the Apostolic Hierarchy.”
English version at Vatican website
Aug. 1931 German Chancellor Brüning meets with Mussolini in Rome and pays a visit to the Vatican, where Cardinal Pacelli insists he form a governing coalition with the Nazis for the sake of attaining a Concordat between the Vatican and the German Reich.
English translation of excerpts of Brüning’s memoirsBrüning’s account was disputed by some historians, but a recent work by a German historian argues that Brüning’s account is consistent with other evidence that Pacelli sought for several years to achieve a coalition of the Catholic Center Party with the right (of which the National Socialists were the largest party) in preference to earlier Center Party coalitions with the Social Democratic Party. Cf. Christoph Hübner, Die Rechtskatholiken, die Zentrumspartei und die katholische Kirche in Deutschland bis zum Reichskonkordat von 1933 [The Rightwing Catholics, the Center Party and the Catholic Church in Germany up to the Reich Concordat of 1933] (Münster: Beiträge zur Theologie, Kirche und Gesellschaft, vol. 24, 2014)
Immediately after Brüning’s meeting with Pacelli, Brüning has an audience with Pope Pius XI, who commends the German Bishops for their principled opposition to erroneous doctrines of Nazism.
Sept. 1931 Mussolini agrees to stop persecution of Catholic Action; Vatican agrees that Catholic Action will stay out of politics and that all its activities will be subject to the Bishops.
Sept. 3-8, 1931 Völkischer Beobachter runs daily articles about the death of the Nazi Gauleiter of Hesse, Peter Gemeinder, and the refusal by the Diocese of Mainz to allow a Catholic funeral for him.
Sept. 10, 1931 The flagship newspaper of the Catholic Center Party says the deceased Gauleiter has suffered the consequences of joining a movement contrary to Catholicism and disobeying a clear order from Church authority.
Translation of article "Konsequenzen"
Sept. 12, 1931 Nazi PR chief sends letter to Hitler urging a risky, but ultimately successful, strategy for handling the nationwide controversy over the Bishop of Mainz’s stance against Nazism.
Translation of letter
Dec. 20, 1931 Ritter, Bavarian Ambassador to Vatican, reports that Pius XI is open to temporary, purpose-specific cooperation with the Nazis, to avoid a greater evil. Scholder, pp. 154-157; R. Morsey, Zentrumspartei, pp. 302, 310 n.23; Franz-Willing, Bayrische, p.231.
1932
Feb. 11, 1932 Mussolini and Pope Pius XI meet and confirm agreement between them about Catholic Action.
Mussolini’s notes of the meeting say Pius asked him to suppress Protestantism in Italy – despite Mussolini’s response that Protestantism had few adherents in the country. Peter Kent, The Pope and the Duce (1981), 192.
Feb. 1932 Hitler becomes a naturalized citizen of Germany, having been a citizen of Austria by birth.
Feb. 1932 In Ireland, the ex-soldiers Army Comrades Association is formed, later leading into the Irish Blueshirts organization under Eoin O’Duffy. Nelis (2015), p. 108.
Mar. 2, 1932 Cardinal Faulhaber writes a Bavarian politician that the concerted action of the German Bishops against the Nazis has met with unconditional support from Rome, and cites an article in L’Osservatore Romano as evidence.
English translation of letter
Mar. 13, 1932 In the first round of a nationwide popular election for President of the German Reich, no candidate gains a majority, leading to a runoff election the following month.
Apr. 10, 1932 Runoff election for President is won by Hindenburg (53%) against Hitler (37%) and Thälmann of the Communist Party (10%).
May 30, 1932 Heinrich Brüning resigns as Chancellor.
June 1932 Father Ludwig Kaas spends summer in Tirol writing about Lateran Treaty as precedent for building a bridge between Rome and Berlin.
Source: K. Scholder, op. cit., pp. 161, 167.
June 1, 1932 Franz von Papen is named Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg.
June 20-26, 1932 International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin; accompanying the Papal Legate were Msgr. Francis Spellman and Msgr. Tardini of the Vatican Secretariat of State, and Papal Major Domo Msgr. Caccia. Irish Independent, June 20 & 21, 1932, pp. 8-9.
Aug. 2, 1932 Bavarian Ambassador Ritter zu Groenesteyn reports that Cardinal Pacelli is open to a German governing coalition with the right.
Sources: Franz-Willing, pp. 231ff.; Ludwig Volk, Der Bayrische Episkopat unter das Nationalsozialismus (1966), p.46.
Sept. 29, 1932 Pope Pius XI issues his encyclical Acerba Animi on persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico.
Oct. 12, 1932 Vatican Concordat with German state of Baden is signed by Cardinal Pacelli and representatives of the Baden state government. Besier, p.103.
Nov. 17, 1932 Papen resigns as German Chancellor.
Nov. 1932 Father Ludwig Kaas finishes an article praising the Italian-Vatican Concordat as a model and expressing the desire that the Vatican’s encounter with the "totalitarian state" not be a fleeting episode, but a "viable ongoing action"; the article is published in early 1933 by a prestigious German law journal.
German original of article entitled “Der Konkordatstyp des Fascistischen Italien” [The Concordat Model of Fascist Italy], from the Max Planck Institute journal of international law
Dec. 3, 1932 General Kurt von Schleicher is named Chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg.
1933
Jan. 30, 1933 Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg.
L’Osservatore Romano’s daily coverage of the seizure of power, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5
Jan. 31, 1933 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a Cardinal’s statement that the upcoming Holy Year of 1933-1934 will effectively address “the crises of society,” that it will be a “year of action” as well as prayer, and that “the future belongs to the strong.”
English translation
Feb. 3, 1933 L’Osservatore Romano reports that the three Papal implementing documents for the Holy Year will bear the date January 30, 1933.
English translationPrevious Holy Years had almost always been held on years ending in 00, 25, 50, and 75; there is no record of a Holy Year in a year ending in 33, until 1933.
Feb. 27, 1933 Reichstag (parliament building) in Berlin is heavily damaged by a fire, which Hitler and Nazis immediately blame on a Communist, using the occasion to get President Hindenburg to decree emergency suspension of civil rights.
Feb. 28, 1933 Hindenburg issues decree suspending the Weimar Constitution’s equivalents of the US 1st and 4th amendments.
John Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches (1968), p.17: “Under the plea of preventing Communist terrorist activities, the ordinance annulled the seven articles of the Weimar Constitition which safeguarded the freedom of the individual, the rights of free speech, the rights of meeting and assembly, and the security of the citizen from house searches or from interference with his postal, telegraph and telephone communications.”
Mar. 5, 1933 New elections are held for delegates to the Reichstag, in which the Nazi Party uses state-funded propaganda and suppression of opposing publicity to increase its representation.
Results: Nazi Party 44%, Social Democrats 18%, Catholic Center and Bavarian People’s parties 14%, Communist Party 12%, Nationalist Coalition 8%, five other parties combined 4%.
Mar. 10, 1933 Cardinal Faulhaber has a private audience with Pope Pius XI.
English translation of Faulhaber’s notes of the meeting
Mar. 10, 1933 At a consistory in Rome, Pope Pius XI tells the Cardinals that he is pleased with Hitler, because he is the first statesman who has spoken up against Bolshevism.
Mar. 12, 1933 Chancellor Hitler and President Hindenburg co-sign and issue provisional flag decree about the German imperial tricolor and the swastika flag.
The decree provides that until a final decision as to the national flag, the swastika flag shall be flown with the red-black-white German tricolor at civilian installations, but not at military installations, which shall display the German war flag (tricolor with iron cross).English translation of text of flag decree
Mar. 18, 1933 Vice Chancellor Papen proposes to Cardinal Bertram, the head of the German Bishops Conference, that the Bishops remove their prohibitions on Catholics joining the Nazi Party.
Cardinal Bertram replies that is impossible unless the Nazis fundamentally change their program and ideology.
Mar. 23, 1933 German Parliament enacts the Enabling Act by the necessary two-thirds majority vote, thus empowering Hitler and his cabinet to rule by decree for the next four years.
Before the vote, Hitler gives a speech on domestic and foreign policy, in which he calls for the building of a “real Volk community” (German: Volksgemeinschaft), connoting solidarity among Germans and exclusion of Jews.Hitler declares he will cultivate “friendliest relations with the Holy See” and a cooperative relationship between Church and State.
Excerpts of Hitler’s speech in translation
The four-year Enabling Act is later renewed, and Hitler usurped absolute dictatorial power upon Hindenburg’s death on August 2, 1934.
Mar. 28, 1933 L’Osservatore Romano reports why the two Catholic parties of Germany voted for the Enabling Act, to promote “concord” and “the work of national salvation.”
English translationOn the same page, the Vatican newspaper publishes a further announcement of the Holy Year.
Mar. 29, 1933 German Bishops unanimously remove their prohibitions on Catholics joining the Nazi Party, while keeping in place their warnings about Nazi ideology.
The Bishops allow Nazis to come to mass in uniform, but they do not express approval of the swastika: “The bringing into the Church of flags of this and other political organizations is to be prevented by informal advance agreement to the extent feasible, because this would tend to give the impression of a political party demonstration, which is unbecoming to the sanctity of a house of worship.”Source: Bernhard Stasiewski, ed., Akten Deutscher Bischöfe über die Lage der Kirche,[German Bishops’ Papers about Church Matters] (Mainz: Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, 1968-1985), vol. 1, p. 34.
Mar. 30, 1933 L’Osservatore Romano reports the German Bishops’ joint statement removing prohibitions on Catholics joining the Nazi Party
English translation
Apr. 1, 1933 Nazis conduct first nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses.
English translation of L’Osservatore Romano’s coverage
Apr. 4, 1933 L’Osservatore Romano covers the opening of the Holy Year, together with reasons why the German Bishops now allow Catholics to join the Nazi Party.
English translation
Apr. 4, 1933 Cardinal Pacelli sends a communiqué to Archbishop Orsenigo, Vatican Nuncio to Germany, stating in reference to possible papal intervention against antisemitic excesses in Germany (nationwide boycott against Jewish businesses):
“Given that it is part of the traditions of the Holy See to carry out its mission of universal peace and charity toward all men, regardless of the social or religious condition to which they belong, by offering, if necessary, its charitable offices, the Holy Father asks your Excellency to see if and how it is possible to be involved in the desired way.” Source: Rychlak, Righteous, p.14.
Apr. 5, 1933 Cardinal Faulhaber issues an Instruction to Clergy prohibiting blessings of political flags, limiting attendance at mass in uniform, and strictly controlling the ringing of church bells on governmental or political occasions.
English translation
Apr. 7, 1933 Hitler and cabinet issue a decree ousting Jewish Germans from public service positions; at the insistence of President Hindenburg, Jewish veterans of World War One are exempted.
Apr. 12, 1933 Saint Edith Stein, a Jewish convert to Catholicism, forced out of her university post as a philosophy professor by the April 7 decree, writes a letter to Pope Pius XI saying that both Jews and Catholics “have been waiting and hoping for weeks for the Church of Christ to raise its voice to put a stop to this abuse of Christ’s name” by German antisemitic measures.
Stein’s letter states that loyal Catholics “fear the worst for the reputation of the Church if this silence goes on much longer.”In response, Cardinal Pacelli requested the abbot of the Benedictine monastery where she was staying temporarily to inform her that her letter had reached the Pope. Source: Besier, pp. 125-126.
Apr. 16, 1933 German Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen travels to Rome for Easter and meets with Cardinal Pacelli and then Pope Pius XI around Easter Sunday, which fell on April 16th. Papen’s Memoirs recall the Pope’s praise of Hitler.
Excerpt translated from Papen’s Der Wahrheit eine Gasse [A Breakthrough for the Truth] (1952)
Apr. 20, 1933 Father Ludwig Kaas, who had left Germany permanently at the beginning of the month to work with Cardinal Pacelli in the Vatican, sends birthday greetings to Hitler by telegram from Rome.
Apr. 26, 1933 Bishop Berning of Osnabrück meets with Hitler, who says he intends to do a great service for the Church by combatting the danger posed by the Jews.
English translation of Berning’s report of the meeting
May 8, 1933 Nuncio Orsenigo sends a detailed report about the Berning-Hitler meeting to Cardinal Pacelli, including a full account of Hitler’s words about the “Jewish question.”
June 3, 1933 German Bishops Conference issues a joint pastoral letter welcoming the “new state” and expressing gratitude for the Nazi regime’s struggle (Kampf) against Bolshevism. Stasiewski, vol. 1, pp. 239-248.
June 18, 1933 Cardinal Pacelli, the Episcopal Protector of the Austrian-run German-language chapel and residential college in Rome, the “Anima,” consecrates the Rector of the Anima, Alois Hudal, as a Bishop. Hudal’s official position and duties remain unchanged.
English translation of invitation to the event in Cardinal Faulhaber’s papers
June 28, 1933 Nazis commence the arrest of 200 prominent Catholics in Bavaria, including 100 priests. Source: Conway, p.30.
June 30, 1933 Cardinal Gasparri, retired Vatican Secretary of State, sends a memorandum to the Vatican urging accommodation with Hitler, dissolution of the Catholic Center Party in Germany, and avoidance of “political and religious struggle with Hitlerism.”
English translation
July 4, 1933 Catholic Bavarian People’s Party declares its dissolution, and Nazis release Catholics arrested on and after June 28th.
July 5, 1933 Catholic Center Party of Germany declares its dissolution.
July 8, 1933 Vatican-Germany Condordat is initialed in Rome by Cardinal Pacelli for the Vatican and Vice Chancellor Papen for Germany.
July 9, 1933 Hitler issues a decree stating, “The conclusion of the Concordat seems to me to give sufficient guarantee that the Reich members of the Roman Catholic confession will from now on put themselves without reservation at the service of the new National Socialist state.” Besier.
July 14, 1933 Hitler declares at a meeting with his cabinet ministers that the concluding the Germany-Vatican Concordat will be “particularly significant in the urgent struggle against international Jews.”
Source: Ventresca (2013), p.82, citing Documents on German Foreign Policy, ser. C, vol. 1, pp. 651-653.
July 20, 1933 Vatican-Germany Concordat is signed in Rome by Cardinal Pacelli and Vice Chancellor Papen.
Online text of Concordat: in German and Italian.
English summary of Concordat provisions
July 21, 1933 L’Osservatore Romano publishes full text of Vatican-Germany Concordat on page one.
July 24, 1933 Cardinal Faulhaber sends a telegram to Hitler, praising him for accomplishing more in six months than the parliaments and political parties of Germany had accomplished in six decades.
Source: Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches, p.61, citing Hans Müller, Katholische Kirche und Nationalsozialismus, p.55.
July 26, 1933 L’Osservatore Romano publishes an explanation of the Concordat.
July 29, 1933 Cardinal Pacelli asks the Austrian Ambassador to expunge from Austrian archives any trace of criticisms the Austrian ruler has made against the Vatican-Germany Concordat.
Source: Ventresca (2013), p.85, citing Vatican Secret Archives, AES, Stati Ecclesiastici, P.O. 430b, fasc. 360 (1933-1940), “Audience of July 29, 1933.”
Aug. 19, 1933 British Diplomat Ivone Kirkpatrick reports to British Foreign Office that Cardinal Pacelli has told him how much he abhors Nazi antisemitism and totalitarianism and terror, and that he only signed the Concordat because he had a gun to his head, in the sense that failure to sign would have led to far worse Nazi outrages against the Church.
Excerpts from Kirkpatrick’s report
Aug. 29, 1933 German Bishops Conference considers whether to relax prohibitions on blessings of swastika flags and adopts a tactful way of saying No:
“Concerning the ‘consecration of flags’ the customary practices of the individual dioceses remain unchanged.”Source: “Minutes of the Plenary Conference of the German Bishops,” Aug. 29-31, 1933, reprinted in Stasiewski, Akten deutscher Bischöfe über die Lage der Kirche, 1933-1945 (Mainz, 1968-1985), vol. 1, p. 337.
Aug. 30, 1933 Bavarian Bishops Conference considers whether to relax prohibitions on blessings of swastika flags and adopts a formulation that neither authorizes nor strictly prohibits flag blessing ceremonies:
“On the question whether the swastika flag, now explained to be a Reich flag, shall be consecrated: the Conference has until now rejected the consecration of political flags and today is still of this view, that with the admittance into the worship services in the nave of the Church a certain consecration is conferred, without the rite of consecration. The Conference does not want to insist on a strict veto, since the decree of the [Vatican] Congregation of Rites of December 15, 1922 and March 26, 1924 leaves open the possibility of such a consecration of flags, cf. AAS [Acta Apostolicae Sedis] 1924 No. 4, Apr. 1, p.171.”Note: In light of the resistance of Cardinal Faulhaber and other Bishops to displaying the swastika flag on churches on designated “patriotic days” or holidays in 1934, the effect of the Bavarian Bishops’ resolution of Aug. 30, 1933 appears to be that Bishops did not bless or consecrate swastika flags, but also did not threaten priests with strict discipline if they did so.
Sept. 9, 1933 Cardinal Pacelli lodges a confidential protest with the German government against persecution of Catholics of Jewish descent.
English translation
Sept. 10, 1933 Vatican-Germany Concordat is ratified by the Vatican and the German Reich. Within days, the Nazi regime suppresses Catholic newspapers and associations in Germany.
Oct. 15, 1933 L’Osservatore Romano publishes enthusiastic statements about the Nazi regime from three prominent Catholic prelates, followed by articles about an Arab protest against Jewish immigration in Palestine, and about protection of Jews in Germany.
English translationsThe same page features articles entitled “Arab Agitation in Jerusalem” and “For the Protection of the Jews”
Oct. 21, 1933 Hitler withdraws Germany from the League of Nations.
Nov. 4, 1933 Civiltà Cattolica article on the Concordat calls it “a new event in the history of the Church” and says what is most important is Germany’s national re-organization, from a religious perspective especially, as well as the social restoration, which is most urgent since the worldwide upheaval of these past two decades and the fearsome advance of the Bolshevik and Communist tempest, which already broke upon Germany, threatening European Christian civilization itself with the peril of a new barbarism.”
English translationItalian original: pages 217; 218; 219; 220; 221; 222; 223; 224; 225; 226; 227; 228; 229
Nov. 12, 1933 Referendum in Germany confirms Hitler’s decision to withdraw from the League of Nations, with 95% in favor.
Nov. 18, 1933 Civiltà Cattolica article on the Concordat describes a “great moment” for Germany and all of Christian Europe, furthering a religious and civil “program of reconciliation and restoration” in Germany, and offering a model for other countries concerned to combat Communism and Bolshevism.
English translationItalian original: pages 331; 332; 333; 334; 335; 336; 337; 338; 339; 340; 341; 342; 343; 344; 345; 346
Nov. 24, 1933 Letters written by German Bishops show that the Vatican is making the decisions concerning any issue that is a “causa major” including issues arising under the Vatican-Germany Concordat.
English translations
Nov. 24, 1933 Catholic paper in northern Germany quotes Bishop Berning of Osnabrück on Catholics’ duty of “true adherence to the Führer” and Catholics’ “cultural assets for the upbuilding of the Volksgemeinschaft.”
English translation of Bishop Berning’s remarksDec. 3-10-17-24-31, 1933 Cardinal Faulhaber delivers a series of Advent and St. Sylvester homilies to overflow crowds in the largest church in Munich, St. Michael’s, denouncing aspects of Nazi ideology that reject the Old Testament and demonize Judaism of pre-Christian times.
These sermons are soon thereafter published as a book, Judentum Christentum Germanentum (Munich: Huber, 1934), and published in English that same year as Judaism, Christianity and Germany (New York: Macmillan, 1934).
1934
Jan. 24, 1934 Hitler appoints Alfred Rosenberg as head of ideological and intellectual formation for the Nazi Party.
Details about Rosenberg, his antisemitic and anti-Christian views, and Vatican reaction against him
Jan. 30, 1934 Nazi regime institutes memorial day with display of tricolor and swastika flags nationwide, on anniversary of Hitler coming to power.
Details of conflict with Catholic Bishops who resist displaying swastika flags on churches on memorial days
Feb. 6, 1934 In Paris, demonstrations by far-right groups including the Croix de Feu against the Cartel des Gauches [left-wing coalition] parliamentary government are violently suppressed, and prime minister Edouard Deladier resigns the next day to be replaced by conservative Gaston Doumergue. Nelis (2015), p. 164.
Feb. 7, 1934 Cardinal Karl Schulte, Archbishop of Cologne, meets with Hitler and complains about Rosenberg.
Schulte’s report of his meeting with Hitler
The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, denounces Rosenberg hours after Schulte-Hitler meeting, in article "A Book of Odious Falsity for German Youth"
Feb. 19, 1934 Vatican Nuncio Orsenigo visits the German Foreign Office to complain about requirements to display swastika flags on churches.
German official’s memo describing the meeting
Mar. 2, 1934 Pope Pius XI tells Cardinal Pacelli the Vatican cannot side either with the Arabs or with the Zionists in Palestine.
Source: Ventresca (2013), p.70, quoting in translation from Pacelli’s notes of audience of Feb. 19 and Mar. 2, 1934, Vatican Secret Archives, AES, Stati Ecclesiastici, IV Periodo, P.O. 430b, fasc. 360, and P.O. 430a, fasc. 349.
Mar. 6, 1934 Nazi official writes to Rector of Munich Cathedral objecting to failure to display swastika flag on recent memorial day.
Excerpt of letter in English translation
Mar. 14, 1934 German Government officially protests reluctance of German Bishops to display swastika flags.
Excerpt of diplomatic note from German Government to Vatican in English translation
April 1934 Pope Pius XI extends the 1933-1934 Holy Year for an additional year.
May 1, 1934 Austria-Vatican Concordat is ratified.
Austrian ruler Engelbert Dollfuss is praised by Cardinal Pacelli for reconstructing the Austrian state “on the basis of traditional loyalty to Christ and his Church.” Besier and Piombo, The Holy See and Hitler’s Germany (2007), p.90.
May 14, 1934 Vatican responds to German note of March 14 and defends German Bishops’ resistance to swastika.
Cardinal Pacelli’s response states: “Beginning on the day when the swastika is no longer connected by its partisan champions with meanings and missions whose anti-Christian tendency offends the faithful, the resistance based on religious considerations will diminish of its own accord.”
May and early June 1934 Cardinal Pacelli sends a total of ten diplomatic protest notes to the German Government.
Summary of diplomatic notes May 4 through June 14
June 6, 1934 German Bishops Conference prepares a joint pastoral letter, but delays publication during negotiations over implementation of the Concordat.
English translation
June 17, 1934 German Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen gives a speech expressing loyalty to Hitler while criticizing some currents in the Nazi movement.
Coverage of Papen’s Marburg speech in L’Osservatore Romano and in Civiltà Cattolica
June 19, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano reports on a speech by Hitler stating his peaceful intentions.
English translationCiviltà Cattolica’s coverage of same speech
June 22, 1934 In the wake of Papen’s Marburg speech, L’Osservatore Romano reports on page one that Papen remains Vice Chancellor.
“There are reports that von Papen on Monday placed his government position at the disposal of Hitler, who immediately refused to consider the possibility of his leaving the government in consequence of the events of last Sunday [June 17].”
June 27, 1934 Hitler meets with three-Bishop negotiating committee and says he wants to reach agreement for implementation of the Concordat.
Bishop Berning’s report of the meeting in English translation
June 29, 1934 Nazi regime and German Bishops reach agreement on implementation of the Concordat.
Catholic associations that are purely religious, charitable or cultural, and are under the umbrella of Catholic Action, supervised by the hierarchy, will be protected. Other Catholic associations will be dissolved and their assets folded into Catholic Action.
June 29, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano’s front page lead story denounces Soviet Union for falsely proclaiming peaceful intentions.
Italian original with translation superimposed
June 30, 1934 Hitler’s henchmen kill the SA’s leadership and many others on Hitler’s kill list, including Erich Klausener of Catholic Action and a number of other prominent Catholics, in the “Night of the Long Knives.”
Reaction of Vatican Nuncio and Bishops in Berlin
July 3-15, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano covers the Night of the Long Knives and its aftermath with no critical words toward Hitler.
English translations
July 4, 1934 Cardinal Pacelli sends two diplomatic notes to the German Government.
One note protests a ban on German seminarians studying in Innsbruck, Austria; the second note says it is urgent that the Holy See receive a response to the earlier note of May 9th concerning pressures on Catholic students to engage in swordfighting and dueling.
July 13, 1934 Hitler speaks to the Reichstag and defends his decision to kill dozens of persons to protect the Reich.
Coverage in L’Osservatore Romano and in Civiltà Cattolica
July 13-15, 1934 Newspapers throughout Argentina cover decision by Government of Buenos Aires Province prohibiting public display of the swastika flag.
Press clippings from German Embassy file in English translation
July 18, 1934 German Ambassador seeks approval of Argentine Foreign Minister for display of swastika flag jointly with German tricolor.
Translated memorandum from Ambassador Thermann to Foreign Minister Carlos Saavedra LamasThe Argentine Foreign Minister responded that the Buenos Aires Province decision will have no effect.
July 18, 1934 Cardinal Pacelli sends protest note concerning adverse changes in the regulation of Catholic denominational schools in Germany.
English translation
July 20, 1934 Hitler publicly thanks the SS (Schutzstaffel, under Heinrich Himmler) for the “great services” they rendered in the Night of the Long Knives and elevates the SS to equality with the SA, with both reporting directly to Hitler.
July 25, 1934 Nazi coup attempt in Vienna fails, but kills Austrian ruler Engelbert Dollfuss.
Front page coverage in L’Osservatore Romano; Italian original with translations of headlines and excerpts
July 28, 1934 Hitler appoints Papen as special ambassador to Vienna in a move that helps quell international outrage over the Nazis’ assassination of Dollfuss.
Front page coverage in L’Osservatore Romano
July 31, 1934 German Ambassador to Vatican cables Berlin that the Pope has been “deeply affected” by news of the shooting of leading Catholics in Germany and Chancellor Dollfuss in Austria.
English translation
Aug. 1, 1934 Hitler’s Cabinet decrees that he will automatically assume the office of Reich President upon the death of President Hindenburg.
Aug. 2, 1934 President Hindenburg dies. All military personnel are required to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler rather than, as before, to the German Constitution.
Text of oath
Aug. 4, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano focuses extensively on developments in Germany:
Front page headlines about death of Hindenburg; Hitler as “New Head of the Reich”; Change of the Constitution; Plebiscite to Ratify that Change; and Army’s New Loyalty Oath to HitlerFront page article about implications of Hitler gaining absolute power: “No one could now prevent Hitler from completely carrying out the famous program of February 23, 1920. The original idea of National Socialism, proclaimed at the outset of the movement, will enter into a decisive phase of realization.” Italian original: page one. Compare Reuth (1996), p. 274 description of Hitler’s power after death of Hindenburg: “Jetzt, im Besitz der totalen Macht, verfügte er über die Voraussetzung, um seinen Kampf gegen das 'Weltjudentum’ aufzunehmen.”
Page two of L’OR: publication in Italian of the German Bishops’ pastoral letter of June 7, 1934; English translation
Aug. 4, 1934 Civiltà Cattolica reports that a “great impression” was made internationally by Hitler’s appointment of Papen.
The article also recited Hitler’s professions of peaceful intent toward Austria, vol. 3, p.444.
Aug. 10, 1934 Pro-Nazi priest Abbot Albanus Schachleiter, O.S.B. meets with Hitler.
Excerpts from Cardinal Faulhaber’s report to Cardinal Pacelli about the meeting
Aug. 17, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano reports two days before the plebiscite that “Hitler has boundless confidence” and will increase his authority “prodigiously.”
English translation
Aug. 19, 1934 German nationwide referendum confirms Hitler’s usurpation of the office of President. Almost 90% vote Yes.
Aug. 19, 1934 Völkischer Beobachter publishes a statement by Bishop Berning of Osnabrück saying that all Germans have an obvious duty to vote Yes.
English translation
Aug. 21, 1934 Bishop Berning writes a letter to all German Catholic Bishops regretting the undue pressure that the publication of his statement placed upon the consciences of Catholics.
English translation
Aug. 30, 1934 Criterio, Catholic journal in Buenos Aires, publishes article about Nazi persecution of Catholic Church, along with German Bishops’ pastoral letter of June 1934.
English translation
Sept. 2, 1934 Pacelli sends note to German Government saying what the Reich is offering to the Church is less than what the Concordat requires.
Excerpt in English translation
Sept. 5-10, 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg.
L’Osservatore Romano’s daily coverage of Hitler and the Nazi Party Congress, Sept. 5-12, 1934
Note: The ringing of church bells for Hitler upon his arrival in Nuremberg, described by L’Osservatore Romano in the Sept. 5 and 6 editions, was an honor that had been refused by Bavarian Bishops for the 80th birthday of German President Hindenburg in 1927 and for the annual celebration of the Weimar Republic Constitution on August 11th during the 1920s.
Sept. 6, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano praises Mussolini for publishing an article the previous month on the question: “Is the White Race Dying Out?”
Headings in the article include: “One Must Congratulate Mr. Mussolini,” “The Divine Is Necessary,” and “Mussolini Understood That.”
Sept. 7, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano runs a non-critical article entitled “Nazi Art: Hitler Reaffirms the New Esthetic of Blood and Race.”
English translation
Sept. 12, 1934 Vatican Nuncio Orsenigo heads diplomatic delegation calling on Hitler in Berlin.
Coverage in L’Osservatore Romano
Sept. 13, 1934 Hitler calls on Orsenigo at the Vatican Nunciature in Berlin.
Coverage in the Völkischer Beobachter
Sept. 18, 1934 Nazi Reich Bishop Müller gives a speech calling for a united German church "free from Rome": “The goal we are fighting for is one State, one Volk, one church!”
Sept. 23, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano reports that Reich Bishop Müller has denied, or retracted, the words attributed to him the previous week about one German church.
English translation
Sept. 28, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano states the “mission” of Germany against Bolshevism, from the mouth of Bishop Hudal, in an article juxtaposed with a photograph of Cardinal Pacelli. English translation
Historians have recognized the centrality to Hitler’s ideology of the “mission” to be a bulwark against Bolshevism. E.g., Waddington (2007), pp. 1-11 and historians cited therein.No historian yet identified has mentioned this Vatican article about Germany’s mission, or the similar statement of that mission in the 1937 Encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge.
Sept. 30, 1934 Archbishop Santiago Luis Copello blesses the swastika flag in Buenos Aires.
English translation of article in La Prensa, Oct. 1, 1934The only known photograph of this swastika-blessing ceremony appeared 10 months later in Nazi Germany, as seen here.
Oct. 1934 Bishop Hudal meets with Pius XI and discusses proposal for book on the Foundations of National Socialism.
Excerpts of Hudal’s memoirs, translated
Oct. 9-16, 1934 Cardinal Pacelli visits Buenos Aires for the 32nd International Eucharistic Congress.
L’Osservatore Romano’s coverage of Cardinal Pacelli’s arrival
Oct. 11, 1934 German Ambassador to Vatican, Diego von Bergen, has an audience with Pope Pius XI.
Bergen’s report to Berlin about the meeting, including the Pope’s comment about the Eucharistic Congress in Buenos Aires and his concern that a schismatic German National Catholic Church is being formed.
Oct. 14, 1934 Cardinal Pacelli celebrates Pontifical Mass with swastika flag in honored position near altar, and Pope Pius XI addresses the million-strong crowd via loudspeakers.
Swastika Flag at Central Cross of Eucharistic Congress
Documentation in the form of photographs, Buenos Aires newspaper coverage, and the Official Proceedings of the 32nd International Eucharistic Congress.Because this Pontifical Mass was celebrated during the extended Holy Year of 1933-1935, by the Pope’s Legate a Latere, attendees could receive indulgences same as a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome.
Photo of Pius XI speaking to crowd by radio-telephone connection
Oct. 16, 1934 Cardinal Pacelli goes on an airplane ride with German Ambassador Edmund von Thermann and Archbishop Copello.
Thermann’s account of his interactions with Pacelli, in post-War Allied interrogation report
Photograph of Pacelli disembarking from German plane from La Prensa, Oct. 17, 1934, p.17
Oct. 17, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano’s front page is devoted to the Eucharistic Congress, including news that the Pope radio telephone speech to the Congress was broadcast by radio in Germany, and a news item about the relations between the Vatican and the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.
English translation
Oct. 20, 1934 Civiltà Cattolica publishes the first of a two-part series entitled “‘The Jewish Question’ and National Socialist Antisemitism,” endorsing some aspects of Nazi antisemitism and criticizing some others.
English translation
Oct. 31, 1934 Hitler reinstates two Lutheran Bishops who had been deposed by the Reich Bishop for refusing to accept his authority over a union of Protestant churches in Germany.
Coverage by the Völkischer Beobachter, Nov. 1
Nov. 1, 1934 Bishop Hudal gives a sermon on All Saints Day in Rome on the topic, “The Führer Role of the Catholic Priesthood.”
Excerpts of Bishop Hudal’s sermon from Cardinal Faulhaber’s files
Nov. 2, 1934 Cardinal Pacelli arrives back in Italy as the Conte Grande docks in Genoa.
Sr. Pascalina Lehnert’s postcard to a fellow nun, postmarked this day from Genoa, describes her trip as “himmlisch, aber für den Reisenden sehr anstrengend,” identifying her fellow travelers as Cardinal Pacelli, Ludwig Kaas, Pio Rossignani, the Cardinal’s nephew Giulio Pacelli, and the Cardinal’s niece Elena.Source: Postcard in the archives of the Barmherzigen Schwestern in Munich, quoted in Martha Schad, Gottes mächtige Dienerin (Munich: Herbig, 2007), pp. 67-68.
Nov. 3, 1934 Civiltà Cattolica publishes the second part of “‘The Jewish Question’ and National Socialist Antisemitism,” claiming that Bolshevism “was in great part a creation of Judaism.”
The article begins: “The worst and most inexcusable wrong of the antisemitic writers of the Handbook - of which we wrote in the article in our preceding issue - is their constant pertinacity in wanting to trample with the same accusations as Judaism, others who do not deserve it: the Popes, that is, and Catholics, as well as Catholicism as such.” The article goes on to quote approvingly: “the Jew as a danger to the human race.”
Nov. 17, 1934 Civiltà Cattolica article reviews at length Bishop Hudal’s book Die Deutsche Kulturarbeit in Italien [German Cultural Activity in Italy] and describes Hudal as a German.
English translation
Dec. 26, 1934 Statement by German Bishops of the Cologne Catholic Church Province positing a duty of Catholics to "stand up for the greatness" of Germany in the upcoming referendum in the Saar, which will decide whether that former region of Germany will return to the German Reich.
English translation
Dec. 30, 1934 L’Osservatore Romano publishes an article praising a new book by Bishop Hudal.
The article highlights Hudal’s statement that Rome and Catholicism are consistent with rather than incompatible with the “German race.”
Excerpts from Hudal’s book Rom, Christentum and Deutsches Volk [Rome, Christianity and the German Volk], in English translation
1935
Jan. 8, 1935 Goebbels praises Catholic Bishops for telling Catholics to support the return of the Saar to Germany.
Völkischer Beobachter’s coverage of Goebbels’ statement, in translation
Jan. 13, 1935 Saar residents cast more than 90% of their votes for returning to Germany rather than for continued League of Nations rule or French rule.
Jan. 15, 1935 Pope Pius XI writes a letter to Hitler.
English translation
Jan. 1935 Exiled German Catholic philosophy professor Dietrich von Hildebrand has an audience with Cardinal Pacelli in Rome.
Excerpt of Hildebrand’s memoirs about Pacelli saying it is important that “the moderate elements” in Nazism gain the upper hand
Feb. 2, 1935 Civiltà Cattolica reviews Bishop Hudal’s book Rome, Christianity and the German Volk.
English translation
Feb. 2, 1935 Civiltà Cattolica reports Nazi regime plans to ban marriage between “racial Aryans” and non-Aryans.
English translation of article pre-figuring the Nuremberg Laws of September 1935
Mar. 1, 1935 Catholic Bishops of Trier and Speyer attend ceremony with Goebbels, celebrating return of the Saar to the German Reich.
Mar. 12, 1935 Cardinal Pacelli writes a private letter to Cardinal Schulte, Archbishop of Cologne denouncing the Nazis.
Excerpts of letter, in translation
Mar. 16, 1935 Hitler institutes military draft in Germany, in violation of Versailles Treaty.
Mar.-Apr. 1935 Cardinal Pacelli sends confidential diplomatic note to German Government protesting violation of secret addendum to Vatican-Germany Concordat.
The secret addendum exempted Catholic clergy and seminarians from military service in the event of a German military draft, while requiring that they be available for chaplain or other non-combatant services. The provision is reprinted in L. Volk, Das Reichskonkordat vom 20. Juli 1933 (1972), pp. 244, 254.
Apr. 28, 1935 Cardinal Pacelli speaks critically of Nazi ideology at Lourdes in France.
Pacelli’s remarks condemn totalitarian systems, both those based on “superstition of race and blood” and those pursuing “social revolution.”Source: Halecki, p.79, O’Shea, p.126.
Apr. 1935 Nazi regime announces intent to put an end to the Catholic youth movement in Germany, and the Catholic labor movement.
Source: Conway, pp. 123, 125.
May 21, 1935 Nazi regime officially decrees that Jews cannot serve in the German military.
May 1935 Nazi regime begins criminal prosecutions against Catholic clergy and nuns for alleged violations of Germany’s restrictions on sending funds outside the country.
July 1935 Nazi demonstrations are held against Catholic Bishops in Münster, Trier and Paderborn.
Source: Conway, p.127.
July 16, 1935 Nazi regime appoints Hanns Kerrl as the top Government official for church affairs.
July 15-21, 1935 Der Stürmer publishes the only known photograph of Archbishop Copello’s swastika blessing ceremony of September 30, 1934:
“An Archbishop Blesses the Swastika Banner”
Caption: “At the Cathedral in Buenos Aires Archbishop Dr. Luis Copello blesses the Swastika Flag of the German Pilgrim Group that had gone to the Eucharistic Congress in Argentina. This ceremony was attended by the German Ambassador and the Argentine Foreign Minister”
Source: Der Stürmer, 1935, no. 29, third week of July 1935.
Full page with photograph and translations of headlinesTranslations of articles in this issue of the Stürmer
An article to the right of the photo on this page entitled “Who Governs Russia?” contains the same exaggerated statistics about Jewish predominance in Soviet governing positions, 447 out of 545 (or, rounded, 550) officials supposedly being Jews, as the extraordinary propaganda piece that appeared in Civiltà Cattolica on Oct. 21, 1922. It is not known whether the same statistics appeared in any other source in the interim. The citation given in the Stürmer article appears to be false.
As summarized on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum website, Nazi propaganda repeatedly linked Jews and Masons, and the Stürmer regularly published cartoons and articles portraying a Jewish-Masonic conspiracy.
July 31, 1935 Nuncio Orsenigo visits the German Foreign Office to protest material appearing at the Stürmer display case in the neighborhood of the Nunciature.
Translation of memorandum of visit prepared by an official in the German Foreign Office
July 1935 Cardinal Pacelli sends a total of 14 diplomatic protest notes to the German Government during the 6-month period from Jan. 26 to July 26, 1935, and none thereafter until Nov. 1935.
Aug. 3, 1935 Civiltà Cattolica enthusiastically reviews a new two-part antisemitic novel, with titles El Kahal and Oro, by the Argentine head of the Press and Public Relations Committee for the 1934 International Eucharistic Congress, which presents for Argentina a terrifying version of the Jewish-Communist myth and the Protocols.
English translation of Civiltà Cattolica articleCover of novel El Kahal:
Aug. 4, 1935 Nazi propaganda chief Goebbels gives a speech in Essen, Germany on Church-State relations.
Excerpts of speech in translation
Aug. 4, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a front page article on “The Religious Situation in Germany.”
Translated excerpts
Aug. 17, 1935 Nazi regime orders all Masonic Lodges dissolved and their assets confiscated.
Reinhard Heydrich, head of security police under Himmler, declares his intent to wipe out not only Jews and Masons, but also the “Jewish, liberal, and Masonic infectious residue that remains in the unconscious of many, above all in the academic and intellectual world.” Source: “Freemasonry under the Nazi Regime,” US Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org.Also on Aug. 17th, Civiltà Cattolica publishes article on “The Religious Persecution in Germany.” English translation
Aug. 25, 1935 German Bishops’ joint pastoral letter is read from pulpits throughout Germany.
The Nazi regime allows this, unlike 1934 when the regime banned the Bishops’ annual pastoral letter.The 1935 pastoral letter contains this passage:
"The Catholic Church’s marriage laws, such as prohibition of marriage between close relatives and prohibition of barbaric divorce, have been an infinite blessing for the purity of blood and the hereditary health of the family. It would be morally fatal to consider marriage, contrary to Christian laws, only from the standpoint of maintaining the purity of the race. It would be a terrible affront to German honor, in front of the whole world, if the old watchword of Communism about the equal value of maternity within marriage and outside marriage were to be taken up again and promoted among the people ..."
Aug. 1935 German Bishops jointly issue an assurance that the oath of obedience to Hitler for government functionaries is acceptable for Catholics without any special reservation or restriction.
The oath states: "I will be faithful and obedient to the Führer of the German Reich and Volk, Adolf Hitler; I will observe the laws and conscientiously fulfill the duties with which I am charged."The Bishops’ statement explains that a solemn oath before God never contains, by its nature, anything in contradiction with one’s obligations to God.
German press gives extensive coverage to a new Bishop, Preysing of Berlin, taking his oath of loyalty to the German Government.
Source: La Documentation Catholique, Sept. 28, 1935, pp. 404-410. French original of cover and précis of articles, pages 403-404, pages 405-406, and pages 409-410
Aug. 1935 Bishop Hudal gives lectures in Salzburg, Austria that are published in book form as Der Vatikan und die Modernen Staaten
Excerpts of book in translation
Sept. 1935 Special Edition of Der Stürmer for the upcoming Nazi Party Congress devotes two dozen pages to the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory.
Excerpts in English translation
Sept. 7, 1935 Civiltà Cattolica covers Nazi regime persecution of Catholic youth groups and describes a growing pattern of violence against Jews in Germany.
English translation
Sept. 13, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano covers the opening of the Nazi Party’s annual Congress in Nuremberg, including extensive quotations from Hitler’s speeches and a description of the prominent role of Julius Streicher, editor of the Stürmer.
English translation
Sept. 14, 1935 Goebbels delivers a major speech equating Judaism with Communism, on the eve of Germany enacting the antisemitic Nuremberg Laws at the Nazi Party Congress.
The Völkischer Beobachter publishes the entire hour-long speech. Excerpts in translation and German original: pages one; 2; 4On the same day, Nuncio Orsenigo in Berlin sends a communiqué to Cardinal Pacelli in Rome about the upcoming Nuremberg Laws. Excerpt in translation
Sept. 15, 1935 The Nuremberg Laws declare the swastika the national flag of Germany, strip all Jews of German citizenship, and prohibit marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Aryans.
Sept. 16, 1935 Völkischer Beobachter publishes the text of the three-part Nuremberg Laws. German original: pages one and two
Sept. 17, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano publishes the text of the Nuremberg Laws and a detailed report of Hitler’s speech explaining their rationale in terms of defending against Jewish-Communist revolution.
English translationL’Osservatore Romano criticizes Hitler for restricting preaching by priests on issues of morality and doctrine, which is “annihilating the Gospel.”
Sept. 18. 1935 L’Osservatore Romano covers Hitler’s speech to German troops at Nuremberg.
English translation of Hitler’s remarks about “indestructible faith,” sacrifice, “salvation” of Germany, and duty of obedienceL’Osservatore Romano article about rollout of swastika flag in German merchant marine
Sept. 18, 1935 Völkischer Beobachter runs page one headlines accusing Catholic associations in Germany of being under the control of Moscow.
English translation of headlines
Sept. 19, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano reports that the German law prohibiting marriages between Aryans and Jews will have effects in the Netherlands.
English translationSept. 20, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano reports on new implementing regulations for display of the swastika flag.
English translation
Sept. 21, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano reports that Jews are now considered foreign visitors in Germany without a homeland.
English translation
Sept. 24, 1935 Bishop Hudal’s book The Vatican and Modern States, containing a concise formulation of the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory, receives an imprimatur from Catholic authority in Austria.
Excerpt in English translation
Sept. 25, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano reports Hitler being “extolled” by Rudolf Hess for “the work realized with the new decrees.”
English translation
Oct. 5, 1935 Civiltà Cattolica covers the Nazi Party Congress.
English translation
Nov. 17, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano reports on new German implementing regulations for the Nuremberg Laws.
English translation
Dec. 7, 1935 Civiltà Cattolica reports the names of Catholic prelates who will be elevated to Cardinal at an upcoming Consistory in Rome, including Santiago Luis Copello [Italian: Giacomo Luigi Copello], Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Dec. 16, 1935 Archbishop Copello is elevated to Cardinal by Pope Pius XI in Rome.
Dec. 25, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano reports that a Jewish leader in Germany approves the Nuremberg Laws.
English translation
Dec. 28, 1935 L’Osservatore Romano, back page: A typical advertisement for subscriptions to L’Osservatore Romano, in which the newspaper describes itself as “Faithful Interpreter of Papal Directives”
1936
Feb. 4, 1936 Wilhelm Gustloff, founder of the Nazi Party’s foreign organization in Switzerland, is assassinated at his home by David Frankfurter, a Croatian Jew.
Feb. 6, 1936 Winter Olympics open in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Also on Feb. 6th, L’Osservatore Romano’s lead article denounces “propagandists of hatred” in Europe: Soviet Communist ones. English translation
Feb. 23, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano headlines an “Antisemitic Speech by Goebbels,” saying that with “impressive words” he “spoke of the world enemy [nemico mondiale], the Jew,” and citing burnings of churches in Spain as evidence of the international reach of “Jewish intrigue.”
The Vatican paper adds a critical comment at the end, about Goebbels’ claim that order prevails in Germany, objecting that he must be overlooking what is happening in the German judicial system.
Mar. 7, 1936 German Army enters the Rhineland, German territory west of the Rhine River, in violation of the Versailles Treaty of 1919 and the Locarno Pact of 1925, with no adverse consequences.
Mar. 17, 1936 An Osservatore Romano commentary stresses the importance of fidelity to agreements in the midst of the international controversy over the Rhineland militarization.
Historian Robert Ventresca interprets this article as a “clear message to the Germans about the immorality of their violation of a key provision of the Versailles Treaty.” Ventresca (2013), p.98.The Vatican commentary concludes with a paragraph about the great and growing peril of Communism. English translation Germany’s commitment to fighting this peril was repeatedly highlighted to readers of L’Osservatore Romano before and after this time.
March 1936 Cardinal Hlond of Poland issues a Lenten Pastoral Letter referring to the “Jewish problem” and calling the Jews “the vanguard of godlessness, of the Bolshevik movement, and of subversive action.”
Source: Saul Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews, Vol. 1, The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939 (1997), pp. 216-217.
May 1936 In Spain, a left-wing Popular Front coalition comes to power, comprising Communists, Socialists and Republicans, after winning national parliamentary elections earlier in 1936.
Also in May, the Nazi regime begins “morality trials” against German Catholic clergy. Source: Besier and Piombo, p.143.Also in May, Archbishop Gröber and Cardinal Faulhaber recommend Bishop Hudal to Helene Froelicher, envoy of the American Christian Committee for German Refugees, as the person to head an office in Rome to help Catholics who were forced to leave Germany because of Jewish heritage or opposition to the Nazi regime. Besier and Piombo, p.136.
June 4, 1936 Léon Blum, a Jew and a Socialist, becomes Prime Minister of France, at the head of the Popular Front coalition of left-wing parties, including the Socialists, Communists, Radical Socialists and Socialist Republicans.
June 19, 1936 Franz von Papen meets with Hitler and Goebbels to present a prepublication copy of Bishop Hudal’s book The Foundations of National Socialism and to solicit Hitler’s support for the book’s proposals.
Source: Goebbels Diary, vol.3, p.962The book contains a passage stating that Catholics have no reason to defend Jews because they are responsible for Communism. English translation of passage
July 11, 1936 Austria and Nazi Germany enter into the “July Agreement” declaring friendly relations and saying that Austria regards itself as a German State.
Shortly after, L’Osservatore Romano publishes the full text of a joint German-Austrian statement about the agreement. Italian originalAlso on July 11th, L’Osservatore Romano runs a lead article mentioning Bishop Hudal as a co-founder of the organization Pax Romana [Roman Peace] and raising the issue of Austria’s role in promoting Catholic, Christian civilization. Italian original
Summer 1936 Nazi regime commences and publicizes “morality trials” against Catholic clerics for alleged sexual abuse of minors.
July 17, 1936 Spanish Civil War begins, when British pilots fly General Franco from Canary Islands to lead uprising from Spanish Morocco.
Nazi Germany immediately supports Franco, providing a fleet of JU-52 aircraft to transport Franco’s army from Morocco to Spain.Hitler continues to provide war materiel and training from late July onward; later in the war, German units such as the Condor Legion engage in combat operations against Spanish government forces.
Aug. 1, 1936 Olympic Games open in Berlin, and Nazi regime temporarily stops anti-Jewish propaganda. Friedländer (1997), pp. 180-181.
Sept. 8, 1936 Anti-Comintern exhibit opens in Nuremberg.
The opening address by Goebbels’ deputy proclaims that “all important posts in Moscow, as also all agent posts in the Red world network of the Communist International, are in the hands of Jews. Wherever the Jew appears, he shows that he is the grave-digger of nations. The events in Spain are the most recent proof of this.”German original of article, “World Enemy No. 1 - World Bolshevism,” Völkischer Beobachter, Sept. 9, 1936.
Sept. 9-10, 1936 At the annual Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, Hitler and Goebbels present Germany’s war in Spain as a defensive action against international Jewish Communism.
Hitler says Bolshevism seeks to “subject the Aryan peoples to foreign Jewish elements ... Just as in Russia 98% of the entire current leadership of the Soviet and commune republics is in the hands of Jews ... so we are experiencing in recent weeks, as Marxism in Spain begins to rage, the same process of striking down and rooting out the racially appropriate völkisch and governmental leadership in Spain, by means of Jewry, partly native there and partly coming from other countries...”Goebbels develops the theme of international Jewish Communism threatening Spain, by means of examples such as Bela Kun allegedly going to Spain, and insinuations such as, “How does it come about that the Popular Front government in Spain thanks a Soviet Jew for the support of French Communists?”
Excerpts of Hitler’s speech and Goebbels’ speech, translated from Völkischer Beobachter, Sept. 11, 1936.
Sept. 12, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano gives front page, uncritical coverage to Goebbels’ speech about the threat of Jewish Communism.
The Vatican paper quotes Goebbels at length, including his statement that Bolshevism is a “crazed pathological and criminal invention of the Jews for the purpose of destroying the peoples of western civilization, to subject them to an international Jewish dominion.”
Sept. 13, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano’s lead article carries headlines “The Anti-Communism of Nuremberg - The National Socialist Congress - The struggle against Communism as the motive of German foreign policy ...”
Another article on the same front page quotes Hitler at length, as he emphasizes the “spiritual transformation” of Germany, concluding with his call for peace and his denunciation of “Jewish Bolshevism,” all under the headline, “The Great Agreement Among Nazi Political Leaders at Nuremberg.”
Italian original of front page Sept. 13th
Excerpts in English translation
Sept. 14, 1936 Pope Pius XI gives an audience to 500 Spanish exiles at Castel Gandolfo and addresses the Spanish Civil War. Griech-Polelle (2015), p. 226
Sept. 16, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano devotes three columns to Hitler’s concluding remarks and ceremonies at Nuremberg.
Emphasizing Hitler’s commitment to fighting Communism, the article includes this passage from his Sept. 9 speech: “Bolshevism can no longer deny that in Russia 98 percent of the governing positions are in the hands of the Jews ...”Excerpts in English translation
Oct. 1, 1936 Cardinal Pacelli sets sail from Italy for the United States, the first time a Vatican Secretary of State has visited North America.
Oct. 3, 1936 Civiltà Cattolica article on “The Jewish Question” explains at length that, though seeming contradictory at first, it is true that the Jews control both capitalism and Communism. English translation
The article claims that “the most recent revolutionary leaders of modern socialism and bolshevism are all Jews.” Kertzer (2014), p.211. Kertzer comments on the absurdity of claiming Jewish control of Russia from the mid-1920s to 1930s, i.e., the Stalin era, pp. 211-212.Civiltà Cattolica also reports uncritically Hitler’s words about Jewish-Communist world conspiracy at the 1936 Nazi Party Congress.
“The Hebrew revolutionary headquarters is preparing the world revolution with indefatigable tenacity”; ... “Bolshevism cannot deny that in Russia 98 percent of the governing positions are in the hands of Hebrews ...”Immediately following, Civiltà Cattolica reports “disguised emissaries of the Jews from Moscow” controlling the World Congress of Youth for Peace in Geneva. English translation
Oct. 4, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano reports the arrest in Warsaw of 40 Jewish Communist agitators.
English translation
Oct. 8, 1936 Cardinal Pacelli lands in New York City.
He spends the next month visiting the major cities of the US, meeting with prominent figures in the Church and American life, while inviting Italian government representatives to multiple high level meetings.Speculation abounds in the American press about what if anything Cardinal Pacelli will do about Father Charles Coughlin, the “radio priest” who regularly attacks President Roosevelt in broadcasts heard by tens of millions of Americans, and who earlier in 1936 co-founded the Union Party to run a populist and isolationist campaign for Congressman William Lemke against President Roosevelt and Republican Alf Landon in the 1936 US presidential campaign.
Coughlin’s radio broadcasts up to 1936 featured attacks on financiers and Wall Street without prominent antisemitic emphasis and without allegations of Judeo-Communist conspiracy.
Oct. 25, 1936 Germany and Italy enter into a treaty of friendship, which Mussolini refers to the next month as creating an “axis.”
Oct. 28, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano reports another group of 18 Communist leaders arrested in Warsaw, who are “almost all Jews.”
English translation
Oct. 30, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano reports a protest in South Africa against Jewish immigrants entering the country.
The article quotes a protest leaflet saying that Jews already in South Africa send large amounts of money to finance “the plans of the Jews in all the world.”
Nov. 3, 1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt (61%) overwhelmingly wins popular vote over Republican Alf Landon (37%) and a third-party candidate (2%) promoted by radio priest Charles Coughlin.
Nov. 4, 1936, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cardinal Faulhaber meets with Hitler at Hitler’s retreat in the Bavarian Alps, on the slopes of the Obersalzberg mountain overlooking the town of Berchtesgaden.
English translation of Faulhaber’s report to PacelliPapen meets again with Hitler this day about Hudal’s book, with Bormann and Goebbels in attendance. Source: Goebbels’ Diary.
Nov. 5, 1936 Cardinal Pacelli has a two-hour luncheon meeting with the US President at Roosevelt’s Hyde Park, New York estate home.
Pacelli repeatedly warns Roosevelt of the threat of a Communist takeover of the United States. Source: Gallagher, pp. 87-88; Kertzer (2014), p.250.
Nov. 7, 1936 Father Coughlin announces in his weekly radio broadcast: “I am hereby withdrawing from all radio activity in the best interests of all the people.”
Coughlin also announces that his National Union for Social Justice “hereby ceases to be active.” He denies that his Bishop or his superiors in Rome have anything to do with his decision. Coughlin and his Bishop, Michael James Gallagher of Detroit, had long resisted pressures from within the Catholic Church in the US to stop or moderate his intemperate radio attacks on President Roosevelt and other personalities.
Nov. 10, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano gives extensive coverage to the 13th anniversary of Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch.
Under the headline “For three and a half years German factories have worked day and night for the defense of the Country,” the Vatican paper covers Hitler’s speech at length, concluding with his statement that “Germany will be recognized by the rest of Europe as the strongest safeguard of human and European civilization.” English translationA second article on the same page describes Hitler, Goering, Hess and Streicher paying homage to the Nazis who fell in the 1923 Putsch.
Nov. 13, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a notice disavowing sponsorship of Bishop Hudal’s book The Foundations of National Socialism.
Nov. 25, 1936 Anti-Comintern pact is concluded between Germany and Japan.
The two countries agree to cooperate against the Communist International (Comintern), and Germany agrees to recognize the Japanese puppet state “Manchukuo” in Japanese-occupied northeastern China.Shortly before the agreement, L’Osservatore Romano quotes Goebbels stating that Nazism, in contrast to Communism and Marxism, does not want to impose its ideology on other peoples but is preventing Communism from triumphing and menacing international peace. Italian original
After the agreement, L’Osservatore Romano's lead article is headlined “Berlin-Tokyo against the Comintern,” with a summary of the agreement and supportive quotes from Goebbels. Italian original
Dec. 1, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano quotes a speech by Soviet Commissar Molotov against antisemitism, in which he says that Marx was a Jew and that “Israelites in the U.S.S.R." have become “defenders of socialism.”
Italian original
Dec. 21, 1936 L’Osservatore Romano is quoted in the December 21, 1936 issue of Social Justice, praising Father Coughlin for being a priest “at the forefront of the campaign for reform” who “by his eloquence inspires and moves an immense number of followers, and keeps the politicians on their guard.” (p.11)
Dec. 24, 1936 Christmas Eve joint pastoral letter of the German Bishops praises Hitler for his battle against Bolshevism and pledges the support of the Church.
English translation
Dec. 28, 1936 Father Charles Coughlin, while continuing to refrain from radio broadcasting, writes in his Social Justice weekly: “At the present moment it is our duty to lend every assistance possible to President Roosevelt and the administration.” (p.12)
Dec. 30, 1936 Cardinal Faulhaber sends a copy of the German Bishops’ pastoral letter to Hitler, with a cover letter saying he had arranged the pastoral letter “consistent with our agreement” on November 4th.
English translation
1937
Jan. 3, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano gives front page coverage to Hitler’s message to the Nazi Party and the German armed forces.
In terms similar to the German Bishops’ pastoral letter, the article presents Hitler and Nazi Germany as “representing European civilization in the face of Bolshevik barbarism,” and Germany’s task for 1937 as “the continuation of the struggle against Bolshevism.” The article neither repeats nor retracts the notion that Bolshevism is closely related to Judaism.In addition to quoting these words from Hitler, the article presents Goebbels’ words about Germany’s achievements for peace and order. Italian original
Jan. 5, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports that the German Bishops’ “joint pastoral letter against Bolshevism, signed by all the Catholic Bishops, was read yesterday in all the churches in the Reich.”
Italian originalFour days later, L’Osservatore Romano publishes excerpts of the pastoral letter, beginning with the passage praising Hitler for foreseeing the advance of Bolshevism and concentrating on the defense of “the German people and the entire West against this enormous peril.” Italian original
Jan. 23, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports the formation of the “Blue Cross Movement” in Hungary, whose motto is “struggle against Bolshevism,” concluding that this organization will “fight against the Jews and Jewish influence in public life.”
English translation
Jan. 25, 1937 Goebbels notes in his diary that show trials in Soviet Russia continue to be directed against Jews such as Radek, that Hitler is wondering whether Stalin is antisemitic, and that the Soviet military is supposedly strongly antisemitic.
Source: Friedländer (1997), pp. 185-186, quoting Goebbels, Tagebücher, pt. 1, vol. 3, p. 21.
Jan. 31, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano’s front page reports on attacks on the Catholic Church in Germany and deep concerns of the German Bishops.
English translationOn the back page of the same issue, L’Osservatore Romano reports the enthusiastic reception given to Hitler in Berlin on the anniversary of his coming to power. English translation
Feb. 2, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano cites the Nazi Party newspaper “pointing out the merit of Germany’s realistic policy that fully confronts the Bolshevik peril that menaces Europe.”
English translation
Feb. 7, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports a speech by Goebbels in which he says “it is essential to save western civilization from the peril represented by Asiatic-Jewish Bolshevism. No State should close its eyes in the face of this peril.”
English translation
Feb. 24, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports that the Arab press and the Jewish press in Palestine are denouncing, respectively, the “peril of Jewish Communism in Palestine” and “the perils of religious agnosticism and Bolshevism among Zionists in Palestine.”
English translation
Feb. 26, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports on the formation of a joint German-Austrian cultural committee, saying there is hope that a way will be found to “facilitate the Austro-German solidarity that the two peoples ardently desire.”
Italian original
Mar. 14, 1937 Papal Encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge [With Burning Anxiety] subjects actions and policies of Nazi regime to strong criticism, while exhorting Nazi Germany to fulfill its God-given “mission,” and encouraging Germans to build a “true Volksgemeinschaft.”
Excerpts in translation from the original GermanGerman original on Vatican website
Vatican website’s English translation
Also on March 14th, the official Nazi newspaper runs an article with the headline “Establishing a True Volksgemeinschaft.” German original of article in Völkischer Beobachter, Mar. 14, 1937, p.3. In Nazi ideology, Volksgemeinschaft meant community-solidarity of the German Volk, which by definition in the 1920 Party Program excluded Jews.
Mar. 19, 1937 Divini Redemptoris, encyclical against Atheistic Communism, is issued.
Excerpts in English translationFull English translation of encyclical on Vatican website
But the Vatican newspaper makes a prominent point on April 14, 1937 that Jews control Soviet foreign policy, even while Stalin is purging some of the old Jewish Bolsheviks. This lead article also informs readers that, contrary to reports, Stalin is not antisemitic.
The text of Divini Redemptoris includes veiled references to “enemies of the Church who from Moscow are directing the struggle against Christian civilization” and to the “yoke” imposed on the Russian people “by men who in very large part are strangers to the real interests of the country.” In light of material the Vatican published in its daily paper in the 1920s and 1930s, these references could reasonably be understood by knowledgeable readers as references to Jewish-Communism.
The encyclical was in fact understood as a condemnation of Judaism along with Communism in Argentina, according to Ben-Dror (2008).
Mar. 23, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano publishes Mit Brennender Sorge in German and Italian.
The Italian translation uses the word missione in the exhortation to Germany to fulfill its God-given “mission.”Front page with German version of encyclical
Page 3 with first part of Italian translation of encyclical
Page 4 with final part of Italian translation of encyclical, including Germany’s “missione” at end of fourth to last paragraph.
Apr. 14, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano’s lead article explains that while Stalin has removed Lenin’s largely Jewish old guard from power, Soviet foreign policy is still under Jewish control.
English translationStalin’s show trials in recent months against some Jewish Bolshevik figures such as Radek had raised the possibility, even in the minds of Hitler and Goebbels, that the Soviet Government was antisemitic rather than Jewish-controlled. Friedländer (1997), pp. 185-186 (quoting Goebbels’ diary and noting that nonetheless “the equation of Jewry and Bolshevism remained the fundamental guideline” in the Nazi Party and State).
Apr. 15, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano prominently features Bishop Hudal declaring the “mission” of Austria: “safeguarding the union of Christianity in the name of Rome and of German-ness for the entire German people.”
English translation of front page article
Apr. 18, 1937 Bishop Hudal holds a position of honor as the opening speaker for a two-month series of conferences at the Catholic World Press Exhibition in Rome.
L’Osservatore Romano gives Hudal daily front page coverage for an entire week. English translations
Apr. 20, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano summarizes the Nazi Party newspaper’s denial of a Germany-Russia rapprochment, stating that Germany has timely recognized the threat of international Communism annihilating European culture.
English translation
May 1, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports on page one the trial, conviction, and sentencing to 11 years imprisonment of a German priest from the Peace League of German Catholics (Fr. Joseph Rossaint of the Friedensbund Deutscher Katholiken). Italian original
May 4, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano publishes an article entitled “From Germany: Catholic Resistance,” focusing on a parish priest who is being attacked for his criticism of the Nazi regime.
Italian original
May 5, 1937 Front page articles in L’Osservatore Romano focus on Nazi persecution of the Church, and on priests who are World War One veterans and now “in the front line” defending the Church in Germany.
Italian original
May 12, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports on a new measure prohibiting German Jews from receiving university degrees.
English translation
May 26, 1937 Vatican appoints Edward Mooney, a veteran of the Vatican Secretariat of State, as Archbishop of Detroit, thus enhancing the ability to control Detroit’s radio priest Charles Coughlin.
Mooney served 1926-1931 as the Vatican’s diplomatic representative (Apostolic Delegate) to India, and 1931-1933 in the same role to Japan.At the same time, the Vatican raises Detroit to an Archdiocese, and shortly afterward Mooney is visited by Giovanni Battista Montini, Pacelli’s deputy in the Secretariat of State (Sostituto for Ordinary Church Affairs), who later becomes Pope Paul VI.
June 5, 1937 Civiltà Cattolica, in a lengthy piece on “The Jewish Question and Zionism,” explains in detail that Jewry controls both capitalism and Communism to achieve worldwide Jewish rule. English translation
The article quotes a letter from Karl Marx to a “Baruch Lévy” as a greatly significant admission that Communism is a Jewish instrument to gain “supreme and absolute dominion of the Jewish race over the entire world.”The supposed Karl Marx letter was identifiably fraudulent at the time. The article called Marx a Jew without noting that he was baptized into the Lutheran Church as a child, or that he wrote negatively about Judaism.
June 17, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a German Bishop’s statement about the morality trials conducted by Nazi Germany against some priests.
English translation
June 18, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports that most of the morality trials in Germany are against lay persons involved in teaching and health care.
English translation
June 22, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports a protest by the Cardinal Archbishop of Cologne against arbitrary searches of his Archdiocesan offices by the Gestapo.
English translation
July 3, 1937 Civiltà Cattolica, in a lengthy article on the Jewish question, exhorts Christian countries to “stem the dual disruptive Jewish preponderances” over finance capitalism and revolutionary movements, while not resorting to antisemitism, which the Church condemns. Excerpts in translation
Aug. 2, 1937 Archbishop Edward Mooney, a Vatican Secretariat of State veteran as former Apostolic Delegate to India and then to Japan, arrives in Detroit.
Archbishop Mooney thus becomes the new superior of radio priest Charles Coughlin, who had ceased his radio broadcasts in November of the prior year.
Aug. 10, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports the principled stand of a priest (Blessed Rupert Mayer, S.J.) in Munich who was put on trial for speaking out against Nazi regime policies.
English translation
Aug. 17, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports on the struggle against Christianity by the Nazi regime as preparations begin for the annual Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg.
English translation
Aug. 21, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports Cardinal Faulhaber’s words about the Nazi culture war against the Church in Germany, including his statement that “the time has come to speak.”
English translation
Sept. 8-15, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano covers the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg with terse articles on the back page.
English translationsUnlike the previous year, the coverage omits Hitler’s and Goebbels’s equating of Soviet Communism with world Jewry even though, as Friedländer (1997) observes, the Nazi anti-Judeo-Bolshevik propagando crescendoed there. See pp. 183-185.
Sept. 15, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano, in the wake of the annual Nazi Party Congress, publishes an article about “the Nazis’ continued transgressions of their obligations and promises related to the church in Germany.”
Source: Ventresca (2013), pp. 121-122, citing “After the Nuremberg Congress,” L’Osservatore Romano, Sept. 15, 1937, p.1. English translation of articleVentresca describes the interactions of Cardinal Pacelli and Pius XI in reviewing and approving this article, citing Pacelli’s notes, Vatican Secret Archives, AES, IV Germania, P.O. 720, fasc. 323, fo. 14-18.
Sept. 29-30, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano covers Mussolini’s state visit to Germany.
English translations
Oct. 6, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano reports a German school regulation for teaching a Nazi version of Christianity, including attacks on clericalism and Judaism.
The Vatican newspaper’s commentary on the regulation protests the Nazis’ distortion of Christianity and their racist and anti-clerical presentation of Jesus. English translation
Nov. 7, 1937 Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact in Rome on the 20th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.
L’Osservatore Romano publishes the text of the Pact on page one, along with supportive articles.The Vatican paper continues with more favorable commentary two days later.
On November 10th, the Vatican paper reports Hitler speaking on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch and acclaiming the tripartite unity of Germany, Italy and Japan. Italian original
Dec. 25, 1937 L’Osservatore Romano publishes Pope Pius XI’s Christmas allocution to the Cardinals, concerning persecution against the Church in Germany.
The Pope protests against the accusation in Germany that the Catholic Church is political: “We do Religion, we do not do politics: everyone knows it, everyone sees it who wants to see.”
1938
Feb. 5, 1938 Civiltà Cattolica repeats its historical calls for defensive measures against the Jewish threat. Kertzer (2014), p.290, citing vol. 1, p.460.
Mar. 11, 1938 Austrian Nazis stage a coup and take over the Austrian Government.
Mar. 12, 1938 Germany annexes Austria in the “Anschluss.”
Mar. 15, 1938 Hitler meets in Vienna with Cardinal-Archbishop Theodor Innitzer, who orders his priests to read a statement in the churches endorsing Hitler and Nazi Germany:
“Those who are entrusted with souls and the faithful will unconditionally support the great German State and the Führer ...”Source: Kertzer (2014), p.276, citing secondary sources.
Mar. 16, 1938 Cardinal Pacelli writes Mussolini, thanking him for intervening with Hitler on behalf of oppressed Catholics.
Source: G. Sale, Hitler, p.525, citing Vatican Archives, AA.EE.SS., Germania, Pos. 735 P.O. Fasc. 353 fo. 4.
Mar. 18, 1938 The Austrian Bishops issue a statement to be read from all pulpits urging Catholics to vote Yes in an upcoming plebiscite to ratify the Anschluss. Kertzer (2014), pp. 277-278.
Apr. 2, 1938 Civiltà Cattolica article on Zionism says the Jews’ “corrupted messianism and fatal yearning for financial and temporal dominion in the world is the true and profound cause that renders Judaism an incitement of uprisings and a permanent danger for the world.” Excerpt in translation
Apr. 5, 1938 Pope Pius XI, having summoned Cardinal Innitzer from Vienna to the Vatican, compels him to issue a partial retraction of the Austrian Bishops’ approval of the Nazi takeover of the country.
Kertzer (2014), pp. 278-279. The retraction was published in L’Osservatore Romano on April 6th.
Apr. 10, 1938 Austrian plebiscite produces 99.75% endorsement of the Anschluss, under conditions of Nazi voter intimidation, falsification of voting results, and exclusion of Jews from polls.
Apr. 19, 1938 Joseph Kennedy transmits to President Roosevelt a private memorandum from Cardinal Pacelli about the Vatican’s position following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria.
Pacelli’s memorandum states that the German Government has taken an attitude against all clauses in the Concordat since soon after it was signed, and that the possibility of an agreement between the Vatican and Germany “is out of the question for the time being.”The memorandum suggests the American Government should send a diplomatic representative to the Vatican to “make the world think over the ever increasing necessity in the present troubles of keeping in touch with the Supreme Moral Powers of the world...”
Source: English original reprinted in Rychlak (2010), pp. 398-400.
Spring 1938 The official publication of the Italian association of Catholic clergy publishes article entitled “The Jewish Invasion in Italy Too,” advocating “defensive antisemitism” against the “invasion.”
Source: Kertzer (2014), p.291. Kertzer describes a campaign in the Catholic press in Italy to prepare the way for the Italian racial antisemitic laws that followed later in 1938.
May 3-9, 1938 Hitler makes a state visit to Mussolini in Rome and Florence.
The Vatican unsuccessfully tried to arrange for Hitler to call on Pope Pius XI at the Vatican. Besier, p.183. According to Besier, Bishop Hudal was photographed next to Hitler. Pius XI went to Castel Gandolfo before Hitler arrived in Rome and stayed there for the duration of the visit.Pius XI, in public remarks at Castel Gandolfo, lamented the presence in Rome of “another cross that is not the Cross of Christ.” Kertzer (2014), p.284; Besier, p.185.
July 14, 1938 Mussolini has a manifesto published in Italy declaring that “Jews do not belong to the Italian race.” Kertzer (2014), p.292.
July 16, 1938 Civiltà Cattolica article on Hungary and the Jewish question refers to the “Jewish-Bolshevik cataclysm” of 1919, says Jews are in solidarity with revolutionaries, and endorses antisemitic legislation as a defensive measure against Jewish “messianic craving for world domination.” English translation
Also on July 16th, L’Osservatore Romano republishes statement that “Jews do not belong to the Italian race” without criticism. Source: Kertzer (2014), pp. 293, 478, citing “Fascism and the Racial Problem,” L’Osservatore Romano, July 16, 1938, p.2.
July 18, 1938 In the United States, radio priest Charles Coughlin’s weekly newspaper Social Justice commences the serialized publication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Social Justice continues to present excerpts from the Protocols to its readers weekly until November 1938, when Father Coughlin begins radio attacks on the “Jewish-Communist” world conspiracy.
Aug. 8, 1938 Father Coughlin's Social Justice cites the Documentation Catholique Jewish-Bolshevism article of March 6, 1920, publishes inflammatory excerpts from it, and claims it is a report of “the American Secret Service.”
Excerpts from Social Justice
August 1938 Fascist Italy decrees antisemitic laws similar to Nazi Germany’s Sept. 1935 Nuremberg Laws.
Aug. 14, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano uncritically describes the antisemitic laws of the Papal States, barring Jews from holding public office among other measures.
Kertzer describes the influence of this article as it was picked up in other Italian newspapers and “offered a blueprint of the anti-Semitic laws that Mussolini would begin enacting less than three weeks later.” (p.309)
Aug. 20, 1938 Civiltà Cattolica reports the Italian antisemitic laws and their “defensive” rationale, and reprints a Fascist governmental reference to “the historically accepted equation in these past twenty years of European life between Jewry, Bolshevism and Masonry.” English translation
Aug. 1938 Pope Pius XI communicates privately to Mussolini that he does not oppose “defensive” antisemitic measures but only those that are “inhumane and unchristian.” Kertzer (2014), p.305, and sources cited therein.
The Vatican reaches agreement with Mussolini, privately, that the Italian antisemitic laws will subject Jews to treatment similar to that previously imposed in the Papal States. Kertzer (2014), pp. 307-309.
Sept. 1, 1938 Mussolini revokes Italian citizenship for all foreign-born Jews who became citizens after 1919.
Also on Sept. 1st, Hitler demands that Czechoslovakia cede its ethnically German border areas, known as the Sudetenland, to Germany.
Sept. 2, 1938 Jewish teachers are fired from all levels of Italian schools and universities, and Jews are prohibited from attending public schools in Italy.
Civiltà Cattolica endorses antisemitic laws based not on racial theory but on “legitimate defense of the Christian people against a foreign nation among the nations in which it lives and sworn enemy of their well-being.” (vol. 3, pp. 559-561)
Sept. 6, 1938 Pope Pius XI, in an audience with Belgians, says: “Anti-Semitism is inadmissible. Spiritually we are all Semites.” Kertzer (2014), p.320.
At the same time, the Pope endorsed “defensive” antisemitic measures: “We recognize that everyone has the right to self-defense and can undertake those necessary actions to safeguard his legitimate interests.” Ibid.L’Osservatore Romano reports the Pope’s audience but not his words about antisemitism. Those words appear later in France in Documentation Catholique.
English translation of L’Osservatore Romano’s report
Sept. 11, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano features a lead story, filling half the page, about Manchukuo (Japanese puppet state in Japanese-occupied northern China) paying homage to Pope Pius XI.
Italian original with photograph
Sept. 30, 1938 Munich Accord is signed by Britain, France, Italy and Germany.
The Sudetenland, the ethnic German border areas of Czechoslovakia, is given to Nazi Germany, without Czechoslovakia represented at the conference in Munich.British Prime Minister Chamberlain returns to London proclaiming “Peace in our time.”
Oct. 1, 1938 Civiltà Cattolica publishes an article advocating antisemitic laws and refuting “the liberal argument” against them.
English translation
Oct. 16, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano runs article on back page entitled “A Proposal for the Solution of the Palestine Problem," dealing with the Mufti of Jerusalem.
Nov. 7, 1938 Assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris by 17-year-old Jewish Polish teenager Herschel Grynszpan provides the rationale for organized nationwide German attacks on Jews on the 15th anniversary of Hitler’s failed putsch.
Nov. 8, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano covers a Hitler speech to stormtroops in which he says that Germany’s development is “miraculous,” that the German people are peace-loving, and that Germany must remain united with Italy and its other friends in Europe.
English translation of article
Nov. 9, 1938 Völkischer Beobachter blames assassination of vom Rath on “international Jewish murder-inciters.”
German original
Nov. 9-10, 1938 Kristallnacht, the “Night of Shattered Glass,” is a nationwide pogrom against the Jewish people of Germany.
Nazi stormtroops, thugs and police burn down synagogues throughout Germany, destroy shop windows and loot Jewish-owned enterprises, kill or injure thousands of Jews, and throw tens of thousands of Jews into concentration camps.
Nov. 10, 1938 Father Bernhard Lichtenberg begins to offer public prayers in the Berlin Cathedral for the persecuted non-Aryans.
For this he is later arrested and dies in transit while being transported to Dachau. He has been declared Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem and Blessed by the Catholic Church. He is the only instance commonly cited of Catholic clergy in Germany speaking against Kristallnacht.Also on Nov. 10th, L’Osservatore Romano gives detailed coverage to Hitler’s commemoration of the anniversary of the Nazis’ failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. English translation of excerpts of article.
Translations of adjacent articles about (a) resisting Communism in Switzerland and (b) Hitler consenting to the designation of “the famous Church of St. Nicholas in Magdeburg in memory of German combat veterans”
Nov. 11, 1938 Völkischer Beobachter features Goebbels calling for lawful measures, rather than further violence, against Germany’s Jews as a response to the “Jewish murder” of vom Rath.
Translation of article, “Weltecho des jüdischen Meuchelmordes”Also on Nov. 11th, L’Osservatore Romano covers the assassination of German diplomat von Rath and burning of synagogues in Germany. English translation of article about von Rath
English translation of article on same page about Kristallnacht
English translation of article on same page about Palestine and Zionism
Italian original of front page analysis on Palestine, saying that Britain’s abandonment of partition plans will likely end Arab terrorism, which was directed against partition in an Arab and a Jewish State
Nov. 12, 1938 Goebbels says the assassination of vom Rath is part of world Jewry’s “annihilation plan against Germany.”
Translation of lead article on page one of Völkischer BeobachterAlso on Nov. 12th, L’Osservatore Romano runs side-by-side articles about Kristallnacht and the upcoming Palestine conference in London. English translation of “After the Antisemitic Demonstrations in Germany”
English translation of “The Imminent Meeting in London of the Conference for Palestine”
Nov. 13, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano reports Goebbels’ explanation that “the Jewish problem will be resolved by means of law,” also reporting about Jews being injured, “especially in cases where they resisted.”
The report quotes Nazi Bavarian commissar Wagner as saying that all Jews’ businesses will be taken over, and that “the fight against the Jews will proceed to their complete extermination.”
Nov. 15, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano’s lead article criticizes the new Italian racial laws only insofar as they infringe the Church’s role in deciding whom Catholics may marry.
Italian originalCiviltà Cattolica publishes in November the Italian antisemitic laws and their rationale, without criticism. (vol. 4, pp. 269-271)
Nov. 16, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano publishes an article about Cardinal Hinsley and other English Catholics signing a protest to Hitler about persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany.
English translationVentresca (2013), p.127, says Hinsley implored Pacelli to have the Pope make a statement condemning the brutal acts of Kristallnacht, and that Pacelli asked Hinsley to speak up generally on behalf of those suffering unfairly.
The Nov. 16th issue of L’Osservatore Romano also has an article on “The Fate of the Jews in Germany”
Nov. 17, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano runs articles on front page about aftermath of Kristallnacht and on page 6 about Palestine.
English translation of article “After the German Antisemitic Demonstrations”Italian original of article “Britain Military Forces Control All of Palestine Today”
Nov. 18, 1938 L’Osservatore Romano runs side-by-side lead articles about “The Antisemitic Question in Germany” and Arab demands on Britain concerning Palestine.
Italian originalThe same issue features an article on demonstrations against the Archbishop of Munich. English translation
English translation of articles in Osservatore Romano on the aftermath of Kristallnacht and Palestine issues, continuing through November
Nov. 20, 1938 Father Charles Coughlin launches a series of radio broadcasts on the Jewish-Communist conspiracy.
Coughlin makes factual assertions based on the Documentation Catholique article of March 6, 1920.He also claims that 56 of the 59 members of the central committee of the Russian Communist Party were Jews as of 1935, and that the others, including Stalin, are married to Jews.
Coughlin continues his attacks on “Jewish-Communism” month after month, year after year, from 1938 through 1941, reaching tens of millions of listeners.
Coughlin had previously used the Documentation Catholique propaganda piece in the August 8, 1938 issue of his weekly Social Justice newspaper.
Efforts by prominent Catholic figures to have the Vatican stop or restrain Coughlin’s propaganda are unsuccessful; he is finally stopped in 1942 after threats of federal prosecution after the US enters World War II.
Nov. 28, 1938 With the US and UK publicly considering the admission of persecuted Jews from Germany, Father Coughlin begins propaganda campaign against Jewish immigration. Excerpts from Social Justice
Nov. 30, 1938 Cardinal Pacelli sends letter to Archbishops and Bishops internationally about helping Jewish refugees from Germany.
Source: Actes et Documents du Saint Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, vol. 6, pp. 48 (re converted Jews).Cardinal Pacelli sent a later similar letter on January 10, 1939, not limited to Jews who had converted.
Dec. 3, 1938 Civiltà Cattolica, reporting on Kristallnacht, criticizes German press for blaming “Judaism in general” for the recent assassination of vom Rath, and warns against “a system of making responsible for a crime all the members of a race or co-religionists of a criminal.” English translation
Dec. 5, 1938 La Documentation Catholique publishes Pope Pius XI’s words of Sept. 6, 1938 to Belgian Catholic radio officials, saying that antisemitism is inadmissible, and that everyone has the right of self-defense against those who threaten their legitimate interests.
English translation and French originalImmediately following, Documentation Catholique publishes an article presenting statistics from a German journal, Wirtschaft und Statistik [Economics and Statistics], about the number of Jews on each continent, and in each major country and city of the world. English translation
1939
Jan. 30, 1939 Hitler, in a speech to the Reichstag, purports to give a prophecy: “If international finance Jewry within and beyond Europe should succeed in plunging the nations yet once again into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevizing of the earth and thereby the victory of Jewry, but rather the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!”
Excerpts in translationThis speech also asserts that Nazi Germany is allowing free exercise of religion and subsidizing the churches liberally, while threatening to annihilate any priests who oppose the Nazi regime politically. Conway, Nazi Persecution, p.219.
Feb. 10, 1939 Pope Pius XI dies.
Mar. 1, 1939 Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the papal name Pius XII.
Mar. 3, 1939 An American diplomat writes from Germany about the newly elected Pope, summarizing views that Pacelli expressed to him privately in 1937 about Nazi Germany.
Concerning Hitler and Nazism, Consul A. Klieforth wrote: “He said that he opposed unalterably every compromise with National Socialism. He regarded Hitler not only as an untrustworthy scoundrel but as a fundamentally wicked person...”Source: Rychlak, Hitler, 2010, pp. 401-402, reprinting communiqué of March 3, 1939 from Klieforth to Jay Pierrepont Moffat, Chief of the Division of European Affairs, US Department of State.
Mar. 12, 1939 Eugenio Pacelli is crowned as Pope Pius XII.
Cardinal Copello of Buenos Aires stands at the right hand of the papal throne during the coronation.
Mar. 13, 1939 Monsignor Josef Tiso, leader of the provincial parliament of Slovakia, a province of Czechoslovakia, flies to Germany to meet with Hitler.
Hitler tells Tiso that Slovakia faces a “historic hour” and must act immediately or be swallowed up. Source: Goebbels Diary, Mar. 14, 1939
Mar. 14, 1939 Monsignor Tiso, having returned to Bratislava, proclaims the secession of Slovakia from Czechoslovakia.
Slovakia comes into existence as a puppet state of Nazi Germany, under Tiso as Premier, and remains unoccupied by German forces until the Slovak Uprising of 1944.
Mar. 15, 1939 Nazi Germany invades what remains of Czechoslovakia at early dawn; Czech forces do not resist.
Mar. 16, 1939 Appearing in Prague, Hitler proclaims the “German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.”
Mar. 23, 1939 Slovakia and Germany sign a treaty.
Apr. 7, 1939 Fascist Italy invades Albania and takes over the country within a week.
Aug. 23, 1939 Stalin-Hitler pact of mutual non-aggression is signed between German and Soviet foreign ministers Ribbentrop and Molotov.
Sept. 1, 1939 Germany and Slovakia invade Poland.
Sept. 3, 1939 Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
Sept. 17, 1939 Soviet Union invades Poland and occupies the eastern portion of the country.
Oct. 20, 1939 Pope Pius XII issues his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus [Supreme Pontificate].
English version at Vatican websiteThis encyclical speaks generally against “the dread tempest of war” but contains no criticism of Germany, Slovakia or Russia for invading Poland, nor of Italy for invading Albania.
Winter 1939-1940 “Phony War” in Europe has no major land engagements or further invasions by the warring powers.
1940
Winter 1939-1940 Munich lawyer Josef Müller shuttles between Germany and Rome in what Müller later said was Papal effort to see Hitler removed, the war ended, and Poland restored as a buffer state between Germany and the Soviet Union.
Source: Ventresca (2013), pp. 162-164, citing multiple sources including Müller’s testimony in the canonization process of Pius XII.
April 1940 Nazi SS official Reinhard Heydrich orders ongoing surveillance of Catholic Bishops and their staff, as to their private lives and ecclesiastical activities.
John Conway, Nazi Persecution, pp. 243-244, reprints the major points of this detailed order.
May 9-10, 1940 Germany invades France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Netherlands, leading to the rapid collapse of Allied land forces.
June 10, 1940 Italy declares war on France and Great Britain.
June 22, 1940 France surrenders, signing an armistice with Germany at Compiègne, the same place where Germany submitted to Allied armistice terms on November 11, 1918.
Nazi Germany allows the “Vichy Government” under French Marshal Pétain to govern central and southern France, while Germany occupies northern and western France, and Italy occupies a portion of southeastern France.
Oct. 3, 1940 Vichy France, under Pétain, enacts Statut des Juifs [Jewish Status Law] forcing Jews out of the military, the press, and the civil service.
Also on Oct. 3rd, Pope Pius XII authorizes a donation of 3,000 Lire for “those who suffer for reasons of race.” Source: Rychlak, Hitler, 2010, p.403, reprinting in translation a letter from Vatican Secretary of State Maglione conveying the authorized sum.
Nov. 29, 1940 Pope Pius XII grants 10,000 Lire to an Italian Bishop “for the support of Jews interned in your diocese.”
Source: Rychlak, Hitler, 2010, pp. 403-404, reprinting in translation a letter of Archbishop Montini (later Pope Pius VI) transmitting the authorized sum.
1941
June 20, 1941 L’Osservatore Romano publishes the articles of a new treaty of friendship between Turkey and Nazi Germany, signed by German Ambassador von Papen.
English translation
June 21, 1941 L’Osservatore Romano reports on a series of agreements negotiated between Italy and Germany from the 3rd to the 19th of June.
English translation of headlines
June 22, 1941 L’Osservatore Romano publishes the articles of a new treaty between Croatia and the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.
English translation of headlines
June 22, 1941 Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union.
Specialized SS-directed killing units are deployed to murder all Jews behind the advancing German front lines.
Translated excerpt of speech as published in the Völkischer Beobachter
June 23-24, 1941 L’Osservatore Romano reports on page one Hitler’s proclamation to the German people about the invasion of Russia:
“I have taken the stance that, as the leader responsible for the German Reich and as the conscientious representative of European civilization, I am obligated to take.”
June 28, 1941 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a report from Berlin:
“Knowledgeable sources repeat today that the Reich is not conducting the war against the people of the Soviet Union, but rather solely against Bolshevism and its responsible exponents.”
June 29, 1941 L’Osservatore Romano publishes a report from Madrid that “innumerable Spaniards” are volunteering to fight in the front ranks against Soviet Russia, and that “the entire Country is conscious of the necessity of this anti-Bolshevik crusade.”
July 18, 1941 SS Chief of Staff issues instructions for political-ideological education about the Soviet Union emphasizing the role of Jews in Russian Communism. Source: “Anweisung des Chefs des Kommandostabs Reichsführer SS,” reprinted in Matthäus (2003), p. 199
Sept. 1941 Slovakia decrees antisemitic laws similar to Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Laws.
Slovakia, under the rule of Catholic priest Josef Tiso, later pays Nazi Germany 500 Marks to take each of approximately 100,000 Jews to their death.
Oct. 2, 1941 Hitler issues a proclamation to the German soldiers on the Eastern Front incorporating the Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy theory to explain their struggle. Source: Exhibit, Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.
Excerpt in translation
Nov. 1941 German Catholic Bishops protest to the Nazi regime a proposal for compulsory dissolution of Jewish-Gentile marriages.
The Bishops’ protest letter says the Bishops do not underestimate “the harmful Jewish influences upon German culture and national interests.” Conway, p.266, quoting Lewy, p.289.
Nov. 16, 1941 Goebbels writes, “The Jews want their war, and now they have it”; further, repeating Hitler’s menacing words of Jan. 30, 1939 that war will mean the extermination of the Jews of Europe rather than the triumph of Jewry through the Bolshevizing of the earth. Source: Goebbels, “Die Juden sind schuld” [The Jews are guilty], in Das Reich, no. 46 (Nov. 16, 1941), p.1
Nov. 20, 1941 German General von Manstein issues an Order of the Day on the Eastern Front incorporating Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy theory.
“Since June 22 the German nation is in the midst of a life and death struggle ... The Jewish-Bolshevik system must be eradicated once and for all.”Source: Exhibit, Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.
Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brings the United States into World War II.
1942
Jan. 20, 1942 Wannsee Conference is held near Berlin among Nazi officials, including Eichmann, to plan the transporting of Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe to extermination camps in Poland.
May 1942 Father Coughlin ceases broadcasting, after the US Dept. of Justice threatens to prosecute him for sedition and Archbishop Mooney of Detroit orders him to stop.
Many high ranking Catholic prelates and American politicians had tried to persuade the Vatican and Mooney to stop Coughlin after he returned to the air in 1938 with vicious antisemitic propaganda that included the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory, but without success.
July 16, 1942 Hitler moves his headquarters to Vinnytsia, Ukraine, as his forces advance to Stalingrad and the eastern shores of the Black Sea.
Hitler spent 100 days in total at this headquarters, which he named Werwolf, leaving it for the last time on March 13, 1943.Source: Blaine Taylor, Hitler’s Headquarters (2007), 159-168.
The Führerhaus at Werwolf HQ, Vinnytsia:
Vinnytsia was centrally featured in a three-part narrative series about Jewish-Bolshevism in Civiltà Cattolica in late 1920.
July 16-17, 1942 Mass arrest of the Jews of Paris by French police who impound them at a Velodrome and turn them over to Nazi Germany.
Dec. 25, 1942 Pope Pius XII gives lengthy Christmas address over Vatican Radio and refers to “the hundreds of thousands of persons who, without any fault on their part, sometimes only because of their nationality or race, have been consigned to death or to a slow decline.”
Source: Ventresca (2013), p.184, quoting New York Times, Dec. 25, 1942, p.10, and citing Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 35 (1943), pp. 9-24.Oft-disputed is whether or not this passage was an intervention in favor of persecuted Jews.
A more explicit reference to Judaism was made privately by Pope Pius XII in his Christmas speech to Cardinals and Prelates of the Curia in 1942: “Jerusalem answered his invitation and grace with rigid blindness and stiff-necked ingratitude, which put it on the path to guilt for deicide.”
Source: Lill (1970), p.369 n.34, quoting Discorsi e Radiomessagi di S.S. Pio XII, IV, Milan 1943, p.321; AAS, 1943, p.7.
1943
Feb. 18, 1943 Sophie and Hans Scholl, leaders of the White Rose group, are caught distributing anti-Nazi leaflets at the University of Munich.
Feb. 22, 1943 The Scholl siblings are tried for high treason, along with fellow White Rose member Christoph Probst, and executed immediately after the trial.
English language sources include the film Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005) and Michael Verhoeven’s 1983 book and film The White Rose.
June 4, 1943 Military coup in Argentina. Cardinal-Archbishop Copello and the Catholic daily newspaper of Buenos Aires, El Pueblo, manifest support for the coup. Hugo Wast (Gustavo Martínez Zuviría) is named Argentine Minister of Justice and Education.
Oct. 4, 1943 Himmler tells assembled SS leaders in Posen it is essential to kill all Jews for the defense of the German Volk, and that this will be “the most illustrious page of our history.” Source: Schröder (2010), quoting transcript of Nuremberg trials of German war criminals.
October 1943 Around the time of the Nazis’ sending Rome’s Jews to their death, a Catholic Church instruction allows males and females alike to be sheltered in monasteries and convents. Source: Ventresca (2013), p.195, noting the assertion, and lack of confirming evidence, that Pope Pius XII gave this instruction.
Oct. 16, 1943 Nazi SS send more than 1,200 Jews from Rome to death camps.
1944
March 1944 Hungary begins to send more than 800,000 Jews to Nazi death camps.
June 25, 1944 Pope Pius XII writes the ruler of Hungary asking him “to do everything within your power so that so many unfortunate people,” who are suffering “due to their nationality or race,” would be “spared further grief and pain.”
Source: Ventresca (2013), p.215, citing Pius XII to Horthy, Regent of Hungary, Actes et Documents du Saint Siège Relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, vol. 10, p.328.
1945
May 8, 1945 Germany surrenders.
During the Shoah, Pope Pius XII makes no explicit public reference to Jews, neither repeating nor retracting the association of Judaism and Communism made publicly by the Vatican newspaper and the Vatican-supervised Civiltà Cattolica from October 1920 to June 1941.
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Translations and Notes, 1800-1918
1860s-1870s
1869 Civiltà Cattolica, ser. 7, vol. 7 (1869), p.756:
The Jewish-Masonic sect, which today exerts in Austria such a powerful and effective influence in public affairs, has at length been savoring the sweetness of this triumph, which was arranged by some member of the Vienna Cabinet. But it has studied, at the same time, how to direct some even harsher blow to the heart of the Catholic Church, and has searched for how it could at the same time procure the destruction of the Religious Orders and the theft of their property. To this end a vast conspiracy would carry out its plot under the guise that, under cover of infamous calumnies against the Religious Orders, these would be shown to be in need of elimination as an insult to the civil world; and that the Masonic press in making these calumnies would carry the argument to stir the masses to bestial violence; and this would succeed in the purpose of legitimizing the Government’s intervention, with new violations of ecclesiastical rights and immunities. This atrocious plan began to go into effect a few days after the conviction of Bishop Rudigier, on July 21st, in Cracow ...
1869 Roger Gougenot des Mousseaux, Le Juif: le judaïsme et la judaïsation des peuples chrétiens, ch. XXIII:
... Il se verra donc, sur tous les points de ce globe où palpite un cœur de Juif, que ce Juif témoigne de ses sympathies les plus ardentes à la maçonnerie, sur laquelle l'Eglise du Christ a lancé les foudres de ses anathèmes. Car la maçonnerie, issue des mystérieuses doctrines de la cabale, que cultivait derrière l'épaisseur de ses murs le philosophe du dix-neuvième siècle, n'est que la forme moderne et principale de l'occultisme, dont le Juif est le prince, parce qu'il fut dans tous les siècles le prince et le grand maître de la cabale. Le Juif est donc naturellement, et nous ajoutons qu'il est nécessairement l'âme, le chef, le grand maître réel de la maçonnerie, dont les dignitaires connus ne sont, la plupart du temps, que les chefs trompeurs et trompés de l'ordre.Au sein de ces hauts et impénétrables conseils de l'occultisme, dont le but spécial est de déchristianiser le monde et de refondre dans un moule unique les institutions de toutes les sociétés humaines, le Juif devra donc siéger en majorité ? Oui sans doute, et l'empire, dans ces régions de ténèbres sociales, lui est assuré par le nombre des voix. Ainsi le veut la constitution de l'Ordre ; ainsi le veulent les statuts, et ces statuts sont le secret suprême du véritable adepte. Voilà ce que nous devons dire, et c'est là ce que le monde ignore, ce que les initiateurs lui cachent comme le plus important de leurs mystères ; raison pour laquelle donner au public les preuves matérielles de la suprématie maçonnique du Juif, ce serait tenter à peu près l'impossible. Et nous le reconnaissons avec un empressement d'autant plus vif que les preuves de cette domination judaïque se sont inscrites d'elles-mêmes dans les faits qui sont la richesse de nos pages.
English translation:
It will be seen then, at every place on the globe where a Jewish heart beats, that this Jew testifies to his most ardent sympathies for Masonry, upon which the Church of Christ has launched the scourges of its anathemas. For Masonry, issuing forth from the mysterious doctrines of the Kabbala, which were cultivated behind thick walls by the 19th century philosophe, is only the modern, principal form of occultism, of which the Jew is the prince, because he was throughout the centuries the prince and grand master of Kabbalism. The Jew is thus naturally, and, we add, necessarily, the soul, the head, the real grand master of Masonry, whose recognized dignitaries are only, most of the time, the deceiving and deceived heads of the order.At the heart of these high, impenetrable councils of occultism, whose special goal is to de-Christianize the world and refashion in a unique mold the institutions of all human societies, will not the Jew have to have a majority of seats? Yes, without doubt, and the empire, in these regions of social darkness, is assured to him by the number of votes. This is what the constitution of the Order provides; this is what the statutes provide, and these statutes are the supreme secret of the true initiate.
1870 Civiltà Cattolica, series 7, vol. 11 (1870), p.72:
Book Reviews: Gougenot des Mousseaux – The Jew, Judaism and the Judaization of Christian Peoples, by the Chevalier Gougenot des Mousseaux. Paris, Plon 1869. One vol. in octave, 568 pages.Very well known is the name of the gentleman knight des Mousseaux, for his remarkable works about the metaphysical world, of which we took note in Series V, Vol. IV. The work that we now announce has a special importance, because it shows what is the principal instrument of the satanic spirit operating to de-Christianize the world. That instrument is Judaism. The author, with a great wealth of erudition, compiles the history of Jewish corruption and the atrocious, implacable war that the deicide nation has always waged against the religion of Jesus Christ. He examines and describes the immoral Talmudic doctrines and then describes them in practice, delineating with strong brush strokes the Jewish influence in today’s world. Gold, of which the Hebrews have despoiled the Christians in nearly all the countries of the West, is in their hands; journalism is for the most part their affair, or dependent on them; in the secret or Masonic fraternal orders that disturb all of social life, they have the most powerful hand: in sum, that which is called revolution and is distinguished from all the social ills of past times by its hatred of what it knows of Christianity, and driven above all by the Jews, who have become thereby the secret masters of a great portion of Europe. The facts and documents that the knight des Mousseaux reports and quotes in great number cast great light upon what he demonstrates: and it is impossible to scan his present book and not see clearly that the primary motive forces of the modern spirit, dwelling hidden at the foundation of Judaism, are always the same as itself in rancor against the name of Jesus Christ. We invite those who study social matters to read and meditate on this most intriguing work, which deserves to be more recognized and distributed in our language in the Italian Peninsula, which is already subjected to the Jews and dominated by them much more than it may seem. The Univers Israelite of Paris (issue of April 13, 1870) is furiously defamatory toward Mr. des Mousseaux’s book; but it knew no other way of refutation but insolence. The most beautiful fruit to be gained from this book is to sense that supporting revolution does nothing but drive ever more the Christian peoples to fall into the clutches of Judaism, which sucks their blood, corrupts them, demoralizes them and subjugates them secretly but in reality to their tyranny.
1871 August Rohling, S.J., Der Talmudjude, pp. 110-111:
... dass Cremieux Grossmeister der franz. Loge und zugleich Präsident der alliance israélite ist, weiß man längst. Woher diese Eintracht zwischen Juda und der Loge? Wir antworten mit der Gegenfrage: woher die Lorbeerkränze, die Juda in alter Zeit dem Arianismus und in unsern Tagen, wie z.B. in den Archives israélites pag. 463 1867 Voltaire, Volney, Garibaldi wand? Das wahre Christenthum und der christliche Staat sind beiden gleich verhasst. Gleichheit aller Menschen, gleiches Recht für Alle, heißt die schöne Parole; daher Theilung und dafür zunächst Beschlagnahme des Eigenthums, Sturz der hemmenden Gewalten in Staat und Kirche durch die Revolution: was folgt, ist Vertheilung der Beute unter die Räuber, wobei die Geplünderten das Zusehen haben. Dann wird Cremieux’s, des Präsidenten der alliance, neues Jerusalem an Stelle des Thrones der Kaiser und der Päpste stehen. Arme Loge, die herrschen will und ein Mittel geworden ist, die Herrschaft Juda’s aufzurichten!
English translation:
... that Cremieux is Grand Master of the French Lodges and at the same time President of the Alliance Israélite, has been long known. Where does this concord between Judaism and the Lodge come from? We will answer with the counter-question: where did the victor’s crown come from that Judaism in ancient times placed on Arianism and in our days, for instance in the Israelite Archives p. 463 of 1867, placed on Voltaire, Volney and Garibaldi? True Christianity and the Christian state are both equally hated. Equality of all people, equality of rights for all, sound like nice words; but from them come redistribution, and for that purpose confiscation, of property, the overthrow of the restraining powers in the State and Church by means of revolution: what follows is distribution of the booty among the robbers, whereby the plundered are the spectators. Then will Cremieux’s new Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem of the President of the Alliance, stand in the place of the thrones of Kaisers and Popes. Poor Lodge, which wants to rule but has become the means for establishing the dictatorship of Judaism!
1880s
1880 E.N. Chabouty, Franc-maçons et Juifs: Sixième âge de l'église d'après l'Apocalypse (Paris: Société générale de librairie catholique, 1880).
Jan. 1, 1881 Civiltà Cattolica, pages 105-113:
Contemporary Chronicle, Florence, December 22, 1880, our correspondent, Rome:Concerning the current so-called German antisemitic or anti-Jewish agitation. How the Jew is always a foreigner in the country where he lives. How, therefore, the foreign Jewish race should be not naturalized but rather regulated by special, exceptional laws for its own protection no less than for ours.
From the present condition of true and real disaffection, notwithstanding certain appearances to the contrary, the well-organized and disciplined influence of official and intentional Masonry is already becoming obvious everywhere, and not the least indication and argument for this, as we said in our preceding article, is the German anti-Jewish movement, so-called today antisemitic agitation, which in essence, in the final analysis, is an anti-Masonic agitation. Masons and Jews, in fact, are so essentially and intimately connected by the bond of hatred for Jesus Christ and for his Church and for all forms of civil society, that is, Christian society, that you cannot deal with the one without dealing with the other. Nor is it possible to say whether so-called Liberalism and so-called Great Principles, which are the external manifestation in the civil and public order of what is secretly hatching within the confines of the Lodges, are more Jewish or more Masonic in nature, especially considering the eloquent fact of the so-called liberal press which, as in Italy and especially in Germany, is known to be entirely in the hands of the Freemasons and the Jews; as to which is more, in truth, it is as much one as the other. It is also the case that as soon as the so-called liberal principles, i.e. Masonic ones, crop up or try to crop up in some part of the world, immediately there surfaces the naturalization, the protection, the freedom, and thus naturally the predominance of the Jews. Not to mention the fact of the Englishman John Toland, the extremely corrupt man who was the first, as far as we know in the modern era, to publish a book in London of the reasons for naturalizing the Jews, in 1715, that is precisely at the early dawn of nascent Masonry; and the Prussian, Dohm, who published another book in Berlin on the political reform of the Jews in 1781, that is exactly when Masonry was already rising and acquiring the power to turn the world upside down (their work was then copied by Mirabeau and the schismatic Bishop Grégoire, great leaders of the revolution); and who does not know that among us in Italy in 1848, even before the other Christians were emancipated, it was immediately thought to emancipate the poor Jews wherever the Liberals, Freemasons and Carbonari were able to make heard their first and most moving cries of pain? Nor is it thus surprising if the first preacher against the German agitation against the Jews was their confrere Bacci, promptly raising his voice in the last issue of the Masonic Review, November 15 of last year, grasping the generalized judgment against the Germans as a barbaric and even uneducated people. “We contemplate (he says) with a smile of supreme indifference (which means the matter is rather important) the retchingly nervous but powerless (we will have to see about that) exponents of Teutonism who are now reviving the medieval persecutions against the Jews: (whence we see that according to Master Bacci the Middle Ages lasted until this century in Europe). Like all the people who have abandoned the true path of civil progress, the ruling classes, the dynasties, the imperialists, the feudal and military classes of that country (this Germany that Bacci considers learned when it persecuted the Catholics but barbaric now when it does not want to be skinned alive by the ghetto) exude poisonous and deadly secretions, declaring the word of anathema against that ancient persecuted and industrious race and industrious personification in the wandering Jew (nice personification!) of the Legend, and have spanned the centuries contemplating in its humble yet powerful activity the collapse of much pride and humiliation and of much arrogance.” Nor, obviously, could one speak with greater enthusiasm of the Church of Jesus Christ, to which alone it is possible to attribute truthfully the best of this period: and not indeed to the Jewish race, which, since it has miraculously endured and will endure to its conversion to the Christian Faith at the end of the world, perforce contemplated and will have to contemplate, not as much as others, their own collapse and humiliation without having, we believe, as much time to lose in contemplating as those others. Which instead contemplates and will always contemplate the Church as the one which, among its other merits, can also be said to serve civilization only in a manner such that it is not influenced or influencing. And therefore Europe is even more today the most civilized part of the world. “We,” continues Bacci, “might even now predict the next fatal downfall not only of the newly born empire, but also of the old, great Teutonic nation. Persecutions of Jews have always preceded the collapse and destruction of the country that has allowed them.” That is how dangerous it is to touch a hair of a Jew! Fortunately, Bacci considers that “this reaction is inexcusable and such stupid attempts will only bring deserved shame on those who are otherwise not guilty.” And what is worse, “this inconceivable fact (how inconceivable if, as Bacci speaks as a witness, it has been heard so many times and so many countries have been made to collapse?) will not remain without an echo. Since for this it will be unmasked and (note this) held up to suspicion and indignation from all decent men (i.e. of all the Bacci brethren) those wretches who have tried to make German freedom into a machine against (note this) the freedom and independence of the civilized world.” So that now the civilized world and the decent world for brother Bacci is the Jewish world: just as if the Jewish world and the Masonic world were the same world, as in fact they now are. These and similar outbursts of Bacci that are just as Masonic, clearly provide a way to see the alliance and similarity that runs between the Jews and their daughter, Masonry, and their rabbinical cabal, or, at least to confirm it as their slave and now most humble servant, instead of their patron and admirer. What surprise then if, because pecuniae obediunt omnia [everyone obeys money], especially in the so-called civil world of today, between the secular liberal and Masonic press and those many associations that obey and serve Jewish gold, there has now also come about a press and institution more strictly or officially Masonic?
So great, however, is the abomination that the Jewish race always and everywhere inspires toward itself, among every type of people, that the same Masonry, even today, continues in most places, the ancient and indeed common law excluding Jews from the lodges of the Freemasons. Not indeed, mind you, that the Jews have not always had their lodges from the beginning and have not greatly influenced the same foundations of that anti-Christian order (as appears from the Rituals and Catechisms which are all full of Rabbinic, Talmudic and Kabbalistic rubbish): but, in light of the repugnance that Christian civilization always felt and feels toward the Jewish race, it was necessary in its beginnings, that despite the renowned tolerance of the Masons, just like blacks and women, the Jews set up their own Lodges and their Grand Orient for them alone, as a dangerous, excluded and pestiferous people. And although now nearly everywhere, including England and especially among us in Italy (but we do not believe in the Spanish and Portuguese lands), Jews and Masons fraternize together in Lodges and Grand Orients; and indeed in Italy and also in France it can be said that the Jews control Masonry; yet in Germany they have not been able to achieve this within Masonry, which has indeed been called absurd, prejudiced and fanatical. Against which the first public attack was by the Mason Lessing in 1780: and before that he discussed the matter several times in the Lodges. Some German Lodges started to accept Jews especially in the time of Napoleon’s domination over Germany. But that could not last. So that even at present, as we write, the Germanic Lodges, whether in Germany or in Austria, do not accept Jews, who are condemned now, even in so tolerant Masonry and so learned Germany, to seeing themselves excluded from the civil society of the also wicked and malicious, albeit, at least in name and race, Christians. Whence all the more admirable is the malice, even if it is not ignorance, of brother Bacci, who knows this, or at least should know it, yet he marvels and emits loud cries because in Germany people are imitating in some manner what is mainly Germany’s own Masonry. But it is really crazy to expect to find in them such things as good faith and good logic.
Now as to the matter of this German anti-Jewish agitation, which in essence amounts to an anti-Masonic agitation, it could also be more appropriately called a true and well-understood Kulturkampf, being a struggle in favor of Civilization, when the movement is guided by that truly Christian spirit which does not breathe in those countries that are inaptly called independently Christian because they are non-Catholic. But moved indeed not by the pure spirit of justice, of religion and of well-understood social defense, but primarily by the passion of envy and revenge, they are not to be expected to endure long, and they may well be driven by whatever other passions that the Jews themselves know well how to create and exploit. On the other hand, in places where the Catholic spirit prevailed in civil society and still reverbated even in those parts of society that remained Protestant, Jews lived in the midst of Christians for centuries and were not persecuted or persecutors, tolerating and tolerant, protected sufficiently to ensure their and our common quiet life, as everyone knows, including the life of the Ecclesiastical State in particular. To that extent the Jews lived peacefully and left others in peace, minding their own business and not that of others, thanks to the wise, Christian special laws adapted to the particular nature of this entirely singular and also portentous race. And in general it is notable that in Italy the Jews were always less oppressed than elsewhere, precisely because they were always restrained by the laws, first of Rome and then of Canon Law and Christian civil law of various Governments. In the same business in which the Jews were so prevalent, they always found formidable competitors, especially among the Italians in the Middle Ages. By preventing them from becoming too rich, they were prevented also from becoming too hated. Thus the Jews were not only tolerated but also protected and defended; but together with the provisions of the laws and customs, and especially with the precarious status of their residence, this was always granted as a temporary favor to a foreign people and never considered as a right of people who were citizens or naturalized citizens. If this foreign Jewish race is left too free in itself, it quickly becomes persecutor, oppressor, tyrant, thief and devastator of the countries where it is established. And for that it too was often persecuted, oppressed, tyrannized, robbed and devastated by exasperated peoples. Hence, to prevent this race from persecuting or being persecuted, wise restraints and special laws are necessary for its own no less than our defense and health. Without Jews, in fact, we cannot stand, since they are miraculously destined to endure in the world until at the end they shall be converted to the true Christian faith, as we are taught in the authentic prophecies. But neither can we stand with them being so intrusive, so arrogant, so smart, so hostile, whether by nature or by the form of their current religion which is not Mosaic but Talmudic and Rabbinic, against all of human society that does not belong to their race. And what is therefore necessary for the common well-being and defense, is special legislation which indeed does not persecute the Jews, but prevents them from persecuting Christians. Precisely, if well considered, as happens with children in families: for whom there is a special code of paternal and maternal authority which alone makes possible domestic peace and indeed civil society. What if a great reforming philosopher and Mason like Leopold and Joseph, considering that all men are men as well as boys, granted to them rights of men that could live more in this world? It is well known that to their expense in many countries where there were Jews, eternal childish insolent, obstinate, dirty, thieves, liars, ignorant, pests and plagues of near and far, were granted not only one but the entire freedom that others have. Immediately they abused this to prevent the same for the others, grabbing, one does not know how, the public fortune, occupying all, jamming all in their networks, and now almost controlling themselves not only money that was hoarded completely in their hands, but with the same legal authority they also come in hand with the rest in countries where they were allowed to exercise in full to any extent. It is therefore not surprising that, at the first cry to which any give voice against this invasion and vandalism of one enemy race that is hostile to Christianity and to society generally, many think immediately to strike back, as always happened in the past and is now happening in Germany. All these, however, are always will o’ the wisps, until it is a matter of returning to the former fruitful, wise legislation. Thus relying on the nature of things and considering the Jews as a race that are not citizens but foreigners, and applying to them laws that are appropriate to the nature of this foreign race, both they and we will be allowed a coexistence that is peaceful, quiet, and in a manner no less useful to them than to us.
Oh how wrong and how deceived are those who believe that Judaism is only a religion like Catholicism, Paganism, Protestantism, and is not indeed precisely a race, a people and a nation! Just as it is completely certain that others can be, for example, Catholic and at the same time Italian, French or English, or else pagan and at the same time Chinese, African or American; or else Protestant and at the same time from whatever land or nation, without the religious ties of Catholics, pagans and Protestants extending with them also into their social, civil, patriotic and national associations; so it is a great mistake to suppose that the same is true among these. These others are such because of their religion, whether it is indeed Mosaic or today Talmudic and Rabbinic, they are also and especially such on account of their race. This is kept distinct and separate from all the others in whatever part of the world they may be precariously and temporarily established as tenants are in an inn or a charitable institution: if not indeed, rather, as in exile and in prison. The Jews, in fact, are not considered as citizens, patriots and nationals of countries other than their Palestine, for which they always yearn as their only true fatherland and national home, according to which there also arise the same projects that come out every day in their newspapers about this vain hope of re-establishing a Jewish kingdom in Jerusalem or its environs. This opinion, or rather the fact of its being believed and guiding a separate people without a real homeland anywhere, but with an ideal home in their heads that makes them not only aliens but hostile to those where they are living, whether by necessity or by choice, is not so much caused by the real fact of their descent from their ancestors, that is by their race, as it is by their current religion which is not Mosaic, as we have said, but Talmudic and Rabbinic. All the other races, in fact, the Italian, French, Spanish, German and so forth mingle to live with each other and finally blend until they cannot be distinguished from each other as they live together. Nor is the newly born of the former Spaniards, Swiss or English hindered from being, after a greater or lesser time, a true citizen and co-national of that country where his ancestors came to pitch their tent. This is something that is seen, as elsewhere, especially in Rome as the common fatherland: where nobody would dream of doubting the pure Roman-ness [romanità] of many families that have little obligation, after all, to search the memory of times gone by to find where their ancestors came from. And as the Romans are, so consequently are the Italians, although not long before, they were Swiss, Spaniards, Germans or others. It is therefore not race or lineage that prevents the Jews from mingling, like those of other races, with the peoples among whom they live; it is religion. Nor is circumcision, as some might believe at first glance, the point of distinctive indication of the race, as appears from the Mohammedans who are all circumcised and yet different as to race and nation, and citizens of various homelands and obedient in civil matters to different princes. What therefore makes the Jews foreigners to all other peoples is only religion. And not indeed the Mosaic religion that they abandoned even if it is not known by that name, but the Talmudic and Rabbinic indeed overarches them precisely as to that which always necessarily remains distinctive and indeed repugnant to other peoples and nations. In fact, even a Jew who is made sincerely and truly Catholic (and not indeed falsely as has occurred on many occasions and will continue to occur) and immediately, while strongly preserving the race and descendants, acquires real and true citizenship in the country where he resides without any notice to be other than Italian or French or, in short, a countryman of his countrymen. And those who, for example, never realized that it was not Italian and a sign that Tullio Dandolo, author of such noted historical and scholarly works, did not have much time and his sons also died in Rome for the Republic of Mazzini: and the father of Tullio was in fact the son of a Jew who converted in Venice in the last century, who took his name from the House of Dandoli which included his godfather at Holy Baptism? Thus Italy today is full of families that are totally Italian, whose origins are Jewish: as it can be guessed in not a few cases also from the name of the family removed from the town or professions. If, therefore, the Jew of religion is necessarily also a Jew of race and nation, without being able or willing to ever mingle with the other peoples among which they live, then it is easily seen how great is the deception and solemn equivocation on which the modern legislation is based. The false premise that the Jew living in Italy is Italian and the one living in France is French like the Protestant, for example, or even the pagan and the Muslim, conceded to the Jews citizenship and equality of rights that follows from it. With that the Jews were granted more than other foreigners, even Christian ones; which, as long as foreigners and citizens are kept in their respective homelands, are always everywhere, even now, governed by laws that are more or less special and exceptional. Nor will anyone imagine, for example, having Germans govern the schools, parliament, ministries and tribunals of France, or the French those of Germany, or non-naturalized Turks those of Italy. Instead, when Jews are naturalized, by a legal fiction, but not naturalized by necessity of religion more than of race, the door is now open to more jealousy: if it is now granted to the Jews, enemies of the Christian name and Christian society, to have mastery and quasi tyrannical despotism over the races that hate them to death. The Jews naturally deny this and swear to be Italians in Italy like citizens elsewhere. And the same, with more or less erudition and good faith, is argued by others perhaps more than by the Jews. But doesn’t common sense, and the senses of sight and hearing, suffice to convince that the Jew is always a Jew, when he is not a Christian? He does not have, in truth, a real fatherland, which even the Gypsies have. But he thinks he has the right to live anywhere he currently dwells. And while waiting to return to his lawful fatherland of right, he is kept united with all his fellow nationals wherever they live, not only with ties that are simply religious and charitable (such as unite all the Catholics of the world) but also with civil rites, with reciprocity of rights and duties, with mutual interests, not with the common persuasion of all Jews that they are unfairly exiled by the world. So that the Jew is everywhere a foreigner who aspires to a fatherland; nor resides, say, in Italy or France with the love of an Italian or Frenchman, but only for the profit that can be realized, and for the violence and necessities of matters that expose his condition and that leave him always in a state of latent hostility and retaliation and hatred against the country that harbors him and the citizens who surround him. So that a Jew by religion who is not also Jewish by fatherland and by race is an absurdity, a contradiction in terms, in a way that is obvious even without benefit of the increasingly persuasive evidence from rabbinical books now in use for regulating the Jews and their religion in theory and practice. Of these we discourse perhaps at another time, supported by ancient and modern learning, in great disdain and shame toward the Jews, who studied and published their books, their customs, and their maxims and principles of morality and government. We know that Judaism also has no shortage of free thinkers and the religiously indifferent, more atheist than Jew, as well as Jews who, as it is commonly said, are more Christian than many Christians. But without wanting to judge here whether all these are not more appearance and fiction than reality, and whether under the circumstances the atheist or gentleman Jew is not and should not be ready to show that he is a Jew, that is, let it suffice for the usual precaution of honorable exceptions always as to assumptions when it comes to this person or that particular individual. This generally we know, but in principle the Jew can and indeed should be Talmudic, and in appearance can observe any religion. And in particular it holds for a certainty that many Jews especially in Germany have themselves baptized only in order to acquire lands, nobility and offices, to be used to increasingly impoverish their neighbors and enrich the synagogue. It consists then in the guise of one who was born a Jew and became first Protestant, then Catholic, then a priest and even a religious, who said that his Jewish father taught him this maxim in his youth: A man must always live according to the religion of the country where he dwells: and this in order to avoid scrapes and be more free and less observed or even persecuted in his dealings. And the fact is that the child must have learned well to live by this maxim. For he lived as a Jew among the Jews, as a Protestant among the Protestants, as a Catholic among the Catholics, as a priest among the priests, as a religious in a religious order, and then finished by returning to live as a Protestant and married a Protestant, as shortly before he was living as a Muslim among the Muslims. And since perhaps he is still alive, it is not absolutely impossible that he ends up Jewish in his native ghetto. We recognize, however, that these are perhaps exceptions, although not honorable. But, in any case, even from far more than what was mentioned, everyone can guess how great is the wisdom of modern legislation which, following liberal and masonic principles, removed all restraints of exceptional laws on a race that is foreign to any country in which it resides; and however vain and fleeting may be any order that does not lead back to a special law for the Jews, by virtue of which they are not persecuted or harassed, but rather defended and restrained as against what always leads to persecutors and oppressors, which always proved harmful to people who could not be restrained and to the Jews themselves, against whom more popular hatred and revenge will sooner or later break out. But that is enough said for now.
Source: Civiltà Cattolica, January 1, 1881, vol. 1.
1894 Doctor Bataille [Jogand-Pagès, a/k/a Leo Taxil], Le Diable au XIXe Siècle [The Devil in the 19th Century], volume 2:
... If the Masonic sisters [an invention by Jogand in an earlier work; there were no female Masons] have their great role in the combat of the international sect against the Church of Jesus Christ, how much more important yet is the role of the Jews. The Masonic sisters are, apart from a few rare exceptions, the instruments; the Jews, by contrast, are the instigators, they participate in the most violent enterprises, they bring anti-Christian hatred into the center of the lodges, and, in connivance with Palladism [a super-Masonic order also invented by Jogand in earlier works] where a good number among them are chiefs, they even have their own behind-the-scenes lodges, confederated without the knowledge of the common Masons and governed by the Sovereign Patriarchal Council of Hamburg.Here, I am obliged to separate myself completely from Mr. Leo Taxil.
Mr. Leo Taxil is more occupied with exposing the rituals than with studying the history of the sect. In his excellent work The Mysteries of Freemasonry, he hardly traced a rough sketch of the history of the Order ...
Mr. Leo Taxil does not believe that Jewry and Masonry are compatible ... He is my friend, and I know him to be of good faith. But he is mistaken; he is absolutely mistaken.” ...
There is among Jews a racial solidarity, not a religious solidarity, so that in this regard the Israelites are united as implacable enemies of the Catholic religion...
Moreover, the union of the Jews in Freemasonry, a union that is incontestable, is a fact of racial solidarity; for there, they have complete brotherhood, Kabbalistic Jews, skeptical Jews, atheist Jews...
The question of the Jews in Freemasonry being of very great importance, I will treat it at length. Until now this question has been hardly touched upon by antisemitic authors. It has seemed to me necessary to make it all known; the invasion of Jews everywhere, the election of Adriano Lemmi as supreme head of the sect, these are the major reasons for omitting nothing of what is essential for the public to know.
... the Jewish Masons organized themselves in turn, with the authorization of the Supreme Dogmatic Directorate of the sect, in secret association, creating Israelite lodges side-by-side with ordinary lodges and functioning currently under the direction of the Sovereign Patriarchal Council of Hamburg...
Once he becomes a Freemason, what is to stop the Jew from becoming all that he could wish in today’s society, of which the Freemasons are soon going to become the masters, by means of this revolution long prepared in their councils? ...
I think this definitively demonstrates, taking for an example one small country (Switzerland), the role played by the secret Jewish lodges within worldwide Freemasonry and alongside its official lodges which do not suspect the existence of this formidable confederation ...
If you reflect now on the implications of the pact signed in 1874 between Albert Pike, the sovereign pontiff of Palladism, and Armand Levy, the director general of all the B’nai-B’rith chapters of the New and Old World, and you look at the colossal Masonic power of the Jews, you will understand what can be attempted and accomplished, in the battle of the sects against the Church, by this mysterious Sovereign Patriarchal Council of Hamburg...
As for the finances of the Sovereign Patriarchal Council of Hamburg, it has, per year, in round figures, 5,400,000 Francs, for the general propagation of Masonic Jewry.
Their purpose is above all to conspire against the Christian religion and to work in concert with a view to increasing their influence ... there are several Israelite sisters affiliated with the federation, mainly in Hamburg ...
The secret place where the Sovereign Patriarchal Council holds its meetings is situated on Valentinskamp Street ... distinct from the place of the Grand Lodge of Hamburg ...
The throne of the Sovereign Patriarch is of an unheard-of richness ... In meetings of the Sovereign Patriarchal Council, the Jewish Masons wear a great white tunic, drawn to the waist by a wide red sash, with gold fringes at the ends that hang down over the left thigh. No Masonic ribbon; but a silver chain with triangular rings around the neck, hanging down on the chest; a golden plaque in a form representing the tablets of the law, 7 centimeters high, hangs from the chain...
The Israelite sisters are in an ordinary robe de ville dress ... As for the Sovereign Patriarch, he is vested in ... Like the high priest of ancient times, he wears a hoschen breastplate, attached by a chain of gold; but instead of twelve gems representing the twelve tribes, there are diamonds in the form of a flamboyant star. His head is done up in an enormous turban, with a plaque of gold on the front, on which are engraved Kabbalistic signs... Then, silence having been established, the Sovereign Patriarch pronounces in a grave and solemn voice: Adonai-Begon-Galchol... The Jewish brothers form a steel arch ... The visitor advances under crossed swords ... and tramples the crucifix. He is now worthy of the assembled high Jewry ...
Note: Jogand may have chosen Hamburg as the site of the Sovereign Patriarchal Council because the Masonic lodge of Hamburg was more open to Jewish members than were other circles of Freemasonry in Germany.
Aug. 15, 1896 Civiltà Cattolica’s coverage of the electoral victory of Karl Lueger and his Christian Social Party in Austria, also known at the time as the Antisemitic Party; Civiltà Cattolica reported “the victory of the antisemites in the capital” with these words:
... the triumph of Dr. Lueger was such as to give the coup de grace to the old mafia of Jewish capitalism, allied in Vienna with Masonic liberalism. Here we take up again the development of antisemitism or anti-liberalism, which was interrupted previously when the Emperor refused his consent, under the influence of Badeni, to the appointment of Dr. Lueger as Mayor of Vienna. To that refusal the City Councilors of Vienna gave their response this past April 18th, re-electing Dr. Lueger for the fourth time, by 96 out of 138 total votes. The Jewish-liberal press of Vienna and Budapest did everything again to prevent the confirmation of the appointment ... (vol. 3, p.484)
Sept. 19, 1896 Civiltà Cattolica, Sept. 19, 1896:
There was a time when male Masonry denied having sisters and swore ignorance of female lodges. But those who are intelligent about Masonic matters never let themselves be fooled ... taking advantage of the naivete of good people, Masonry dared its brazen perfidy three or four years ago, which gave rise to the terrific explosion of Taxil, Are There Women in Freemasonry? ... The formidable revelations of Doctor Bataille and of Miss Diana Vaughan [another Jogand pseudonym] put the ultimate seal on the question, resolving it forever.... Leo Taxil was the first to publish the true rituals of the Perfect Adoption [a supposed order of Freemasonry], which had been kept secret because they were so lewd... F. Ragon, the Sacred Author of French Masonry, had printed a compendium that misrepresented them. The rituals of satanic Mopse [the supposed female order of Masons] were guarded so jealously that Taxil had to pay their weight in gold just to get them into his hands long enough to transcribe them. His book Are There Women in Freemasonry?, published in 1891, was truly a revelation to the entire world and to many ordinary Masons themselves. Adolf Ricoux acquired only at great expense the dogmatic bull of Pontiff Pike, in which is openly stated the diabolical doctrine of Palladism, and the moral system of the male and female Palladists. Doctor Bataille, penetrating courageously into the satanic lodges and reporting what he had seen with his own eyes, in two large volumes of great value and faith, provided a means for studying and understanding Masonry. The books of De la Rive will remain the most weighty monuments for those who study Jewish Masonry and the Mopse order, built as they are on an unshakable foundation. John Kostka, a former Satanist of high rank, burns now in public what he had adored [French historical allusion to the Frankish king Clovis, who was converted by St. Rémy and was instructed to burn the idols he had previously worshipped]. Miss Diana Vaughan, called from the deepest darkness to the light of God [Jogand invented her as an escapee from the highest ranks of female Masonry who had converted to Catholicism], prepared by divine providence and armed with knowledge and personal experience, turns to the service of the Church with her inexhaustible and valuable publications, which have no equal in exactitude and utility. Masonry is in a state of consternation, and to ward off the blows of the fair virgin, it spreads the rumor that she does not exist and is only a myth. It is a tactic of children; but Masonry has nothing better. (p.684 and note 1)
Sept. 19, 1896 Advertisement for the First Anti-Masonic Congress, inside back cover of Civiltà Cattolica, September 19, 1896:
From the 26th to the 30th of September the First Anti-Masonic Congress will be celebrated at Trent in the Tyrol, attended by representatives of all the nations to coordinate more opportunely to deal with this ill-starred sect, which aims at the de-Christianization of the world. The Supreme Pontiff, Leo XIII, Mgr. Valussi the Prince-Bishop of Trent, and the Austrian governing authorities have given their consent and approbation ... ceremonies in the cathedral, famous from the Council of Trent.
Above the advertisement for the Congress can be seen an offer of a book describing the “recent conversion of Miss Diana Vaughan” for 20 centisimi (0.20 Lire).
Note: Civiltà Cattolica’s endorsement and advertisement of Jogand’s works, under his various pseudonyms, helped him to become widely read and believed among Catholics in France. Jogand’s credibility was so high among French Catholics by the mid-1890s that his works became a factor in the life of a Carmelite convent, a place where non-devotional reading material is normally excluded. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a Carmelite sister at the time and perhaps the best-known Catholic saint of the 19th century today, wrote a letter of encouragement to Diana Vaughan, enclosing a photograph. The photograph depicted Thérèse dressed as Joan of Arc in a convent play. Jogand displayed that photograph on the wall, using a limelight projector, during his April 19, 1897 press conference at the Geographical Society in Paris.
Civiltà Cattolica devoted four pages to Leo Taxil’s announcement on April 19 that his writings were a hoax, one page on May 1 and three more on May 15, 1897.
May 1, 1897 Civiltà Cattolica tried to excuse its past promotions of the works of Diana Vaughan, saying it had once called Diana Vaughan “unfindable” and had said that others write that she is a “myth,” claiming these as fulfillment of its duty of truthfulness to its readership. (vol. 2, p.367) The journal mentioned that Pope Leo XIII summoned the Cardinal-Archbishop of Paris immediately to the Vatican after Jogand’s disclosure.
May 15, 1897 Civiltà Cattolica wrote about Jogand’s works:
“From the above-mentioned it does not follow that everything Taxil said about Masonry is false, much of it being verifiable as true from genuine sources ...”
As to Jogand-Taxil himself, the journal wrote of his “moral suicide,” asking what could lead him to commit “a suicide leaving him no hope among Catholics and none among liberals.” (vol. 2, pp. 481-483)
May 1, 1897 Civiltà Cattolica’s lengthy response (vol. 2, pp. 257-271) to the rise of the Zionist movement:
“The Dispersion of Israel in the Modern World”For those who do not believe in the divine inspiration of Scripture and reject the prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments, it must come off as inexplicably strange that as a matter of fact, unique in the history of the human race, there has been a people dispersed and wandering for more than nineteen centuries, without a king, without a temple, without a priesthood, without a country; yet always subsisting, interspersed in the nations of the globe, with none of whom they have ever intermarried, always remaining looked down upon as enemies and outcasts by all these same nations.
Such is, without any doubt, the fact about the Jewish people, whose very existence provokes today, more than ever, hatreds that are all the more dangerous the more closely associated they are with the question above all other questions, namely the social question. The phenomenon becomes singular indeed, if one may say, when one considers that the animosity appears sharper in those nations where the liberties of this people have been more expansive and where they have been admitted to full enjoyment of the rights of citizenship.
And in fact, according to what a German Jew wrote a while ago, “the antisemitic current is making a world tour.” But he could have added that in the places where it does the most violence, as in France, Austria, Hungary, Germany, and Italy, semitism has been the most favored by the laws...
Now 1,827 years have passed since the fulfillment to the letter of the prediction of Jesus of Nazareth that Jerusalem would be destroyed, so that not one stone would remain on another, that the Jews would be delivered into slavery among all the nations, and would continue to be dispersed there until the consummation of the times. (footnote: Matthew 24:1,15; Luke 13:35, 19:41, 20:16, 21:6,20) Of this prediction, up to the present day, not a syllable has gone unfulfilled. The imprecation of his (Jesus’) blood be upon us and upon our children, cried out indeed by the people in the presence of Pontius Pilate (footnote: Matthew 27:25), continues to be fulfilled in all of them, with the same constancy with which the sun rises and sets for all: and now, however much semitism and antisemitism are spoken and written about, it will not be superfluous to see the fulfillment in today’s world.
II.
What is the status of the Jewish people in the midst of the nations of our time? To a great extent it is new. But it is precisely the novelty of their state that has given rise to the question that goes by the equally new name of antisemitism. We want to reflect on that civic emancipation which, in almost every country, has made them equal with the people of the nation, exciting tremendous angers and rivalries.
The first to make this beautiful gift of fraternity with the Christian peoples was revolutionary France in 1791, imitated then little by little, step by step, in the course of the next century, by other States. England carried out the task from 1849 to 1858; Denmark in 1849; Austria-Hungary from 1840 to 1867; Germany from 1869 to 1871; Italy from 1860 to 1870; Switzerland from 1869 to 1874; Bulgaria and Serbia from 1878 to 1879. Thus the only regions in which the Jews, today, are not united in civic fraternity and equal with the native inhabitants are Russia and Romania at one end, and Spain and Portugal at the Gallic opposite end of Europe. But it may be noted that in the latter two countries the Jews, who before the 15th century amounted there to about half a million, were expelled and those who remained were baptized, nor have they thus far returned in numbers that would make it worth the while to originate a law of equality on their behalf...
III.
The progeny of Jacob have always increased in number, to the point of numbering today seven or eight, but certainly not ten million witnesses. If they have increased to that extent, that is to say they are still scattered throughout the globe. The prophecy of their dispersal, ut pulverem ante facem venti, delebo, “that they may be dust borne on a breath of wind throughout the earth” (footnote: Psalm 17:40-42 [Psalm 18:40-42 in many Bibles]) ...
IV.
It is clear that a breath of wind of heavenly wrath has scattered the children of Israel thoughout the universe...
V.
Although so scattered everywhere, the Israelite race still always and everywhere has remained and does remain the same. By tradition and temperament, they are incapable of mingling and assimilating with others. The Goths, the Visigoths, the Vandals, and the Lombards, little by little, were intermingled with the peoples whose territories they had occupied, and formed nations with them there, which were of one blood and one tongue. But not so the Israelites. Just as no ancient people has been so able to remain a unique body in itself by keeping themselves under exceptional laws, so no modern people has come to identify with them, notwithstanding the full liberty they have been conceded. The Jew continues always and everywhere to be immutably a Jew. His nationality is not in the land of his birth, nor in the language he speaks; it is in the seed, in the lineage, and in that mixture of Bible, Talmud and Kabbala that he claims as his history and his religion. An innate and secret tie binds him to his brethren in Abraham. The equality of civic rights that he enjoys where he lives does not detract in any way from his real nationality. Everywhere he is a foreigner to everyone, except to those with whom he has a common origin and a shared malediction. Apart from his own interest, he has no political aims, wherever he dwells. It is by every cause, under every flag in the world, and from all the dynasties, that he facilitates his acquisition of gold. For him the most favored nation is the one that provides the best way to accumulate gold: the Jew simply laughs that in Italy, France and Germany, they get all sentimental with tenderness for their country. He aspires to secret domination, rather than overt, but not out of an ambition to cultivate pride, but rather as an instrument of greed. In sum, together with his own people, he makes his own nation out of whatever nation he is in, not organically subsisting in any place, but conditionally existing in all places...
VI.
But nowhere have the Jews been elevated to such a level of power as in the present Austro-Hungarian Empire, in about thirty years since they were emancipated there, and the Empire has become little but their fief. In Vienna, until recently when the vigorous resurgence of the Christian Socialists began, they were in all the public offices, in City Hall, in the cabinet ministries, and they dictated the law in the Imperial Court itself...
VII.
And, to tell the truth, Berlin and Paris are already on the way to full enjoyment of the delights whereby civic equality, extended to the Jews, has blessed the Christian cities of Vienna and Pest [today one city, Budapest, combined with Buda across the Danube River]. Not to mention that, of 87,000 persons inscribed in the rolls as merchants in the capital of the German Empire, fully 41,000, as of three years ago, were Jews; and of 100,000 others employed in domestic services, no more than 320 Israelites were counted. Which says that today Israel commands and does not serve...
VIII.
Among the remedies proposed to free Christianity from the Jewish plague, there is the proposal to turn them out from their confines, to reunite them anew in Palestine and have them re-establish their pristine land with gold finagled from the peoples of Europe, as a bodily reconstituted and refashioned nation, refabricating an opulent Jerusalem that would rise up again as the capital of their Kingdom.
Their ardent apologist, Leroy-Beaulieu, has studied this bizarre proposal, and had to reject it as impossible to effectuate for this reason: “Palestine would not have the means to provide food for the entire family of Israel. All of Syria would not be capacious enough to welcome them, unless it was a very slight portion of the seven or eight million Jews who live scattered throughout the globe. Might the Christians and Muslims be evicted to make room for them? Could we give our Holy Sepulchre into the custody of the Synagogue? What Christian would tolerate that? Even if all the open territory of Syria were handed over to Israel, from the desert to the Euphrates, not more than a third or a quarter of the Jews of Europe could manage to live there. It would be a great deal if the ancient country of Canaan and its surrounding regions could be home to several hundreds of thousands.
So, even such a zealous defender of the emancipation of the Jews still cannot resist adding: “And the new settlements there will get started only with people from the ghettoes of the East, since Paris could not really be compared with Berditchev, nor Vienna and Berlin with Jassy. The Jew who might think of setting his house on the soil of his ancestors would not be the inconvenient guest that our capital cities would willingly pass off; nor would he be the rotten middleman, nor the bold speculator, nor the cosmopolitan adventurer in search of ignoble markets, nor the publicity agent, shrewd hoarder of pens and venal votes. All of these types would remain there in the way. We could make Israel, as long as we liked, into to the land of the twelve tribes, but, in order to attract them to Jerusalem, there would have to be built on Mount Zion a stock exchange, banks, chambers and trade unions, and everything appropriate for the operations that they long to monopolize.” (footnote: Israel chez les Nations, pp. 410-11.)
These are human arguments that add experiential value to higher and divine arguments, which are never less valuable. According to holy writ, the Jewish people must always exist as a scattered people, wanderers among the other peoples, so that, not only by the deposit of Scripture, which is venerated and preserved, but also, by being in that state, they give testimony to the faith of Christ. He, through the mouth of David, prayed the Father that the race would not be killed, as to him and as to his enemy, ne occidas eos [Latin: do not kill them], but he had dispersed and degraded them by his power, disperge illos in virtute tua et deppone eos [Latin: disperse them in your power and bring them down]. (footnote: Psalm 58:11 [Psalm 59:11 in most Jewish, Protestant, and current Catholic versions]). Which was to say: disperse them among all the nations of the world that they would always be a living and present example of your justice and a palpable demonstration of the truth of the Gospel. “They were dispersed,” observed Augustine, “the Jews, so that they would be made into testimonies of their iniquity and of our truth.” Now nineteen centuries have passed, and the prophetic word is fulfilled nowadays more obviously still than in earlier times. Pulverized Jewry clutters the civilized Christian world.
As for reconstructing Jerusalem, then, to become the center of a revived Israelite Kingdom, it will be observed how contrary that is to the preaching of the same Christ who affirmed that Jerusalem calcabitur a gentibus, “would be trampled upon by the Gentiles,” will be pressed down by the Gentiles, that is by rulers of non-Jewish descent, donec impleantur tempora nationum [Latin: until the times of the Gentiles have been fulfilled], until the conversion of the nations has been set out, and the end of the world arrives (footnote: Luke 21:38): at which time Israel will be taken by the hand of God’s mercy and brought into the fold by the Messiah they had renounced. Nevertheless it is not said that even then, when the Jews have turned back to see Him who the pierced, they will be returning to their former dominion and possession. That is where their invented remedy is not worth more than a chimera, a dream.
IX.
The more practical remedy, instead, one that is more readily at hand and more efficacious, is found in that shaking off of the Jewish yoke, of which the Christian Socialists of Vienna and Austria have given, and continue to give, spendid example to the city and to Catholic regions. We have already sketched a quick outline of the monstrosity of oppression in which the capital of the Empire was signally held by Judaism overflowing from Poland and tied by a double bond with Masonry and liberalism. Kannengieser, in his famous volume Juifs et Catholiques en Autriche-Hungrie [Jews and Catholics in Austria-Hungary], has presented us a picture that makes one shudder enough to take one’s breath away, in which he recounts the origin of the revival, thanks to the worthy Baron Vogelsang, to whom Vienna will one day be obliged to erect a statue.
The clergy and the people were the two targets most attacked and mauled by this three-headed Hydra. The one, despised as much as they were understood in the anti-Christian hearts of the race of Judas Iscariot and High Priest Caiphas; the other, devoured to the marrow of the bone. They could hardly appear on the streets of Vienna in cassocks without provoking the vituperations and insults of the Judaizing rabble. Tradesmen, laborers and small shopkeepers were all caught between the teeth of the ruthless beast.
What did the clergy finally do there, once they resolved to take the bull by the horns? Kannengieser recounts it well: Turning to the people, in defense of their rights, undeceiving them, devoting themselves to relieving their misery, they made them aware of who were their true benefactors, and who were their malefactors. Clergy and people united in comradeship, the highest nobles and citizens assisted them and favored them with all manner of help. The Christian Social Party was formed, it grew, and it became huge. With the elections to the Vienna City Council in 1895, Judaism’s strength in the Council slipped, and so did its servants in City Hall; and now, with the recent political elections under universal suffrage, it has already been cleaned up for the most part in Parliament as well. Arrogant Judaism is defeated there. Unity and industriousness in the faith have brought victory to the Catholics of Vienna and Austria. It was lawful action that they threw into the jaws of the Hydra, and by lawful action they sallied forth and retook that civic, religious and economic liberty which the evil invaders had usurped.
That is the remedy, for now, the most infallible that Providence offers to redeem Christian countries from servitude to the emancipated Jews. It is not in violence, nor in reprisals, nor in riots, nor in ransacking; but in the faithful exercise, wherever it is provided by law, of that weapon of popular suffrage itself, which corrupting Judaism has used to subject to itself those countries that have welcomed it. When, finally, the Christian representatives in Parliament hold the majority, it will be possible to see, at that point, an end of the equality of rights that has been conceded to dispersed Israel, except for charity and justice, whether to maintain, or to remove, or to reform. The example has been given: fide, concordia et operibus [Latin: faith, concord and hard work]; Christianity will surely shake off all the ills produced by the Magna Carta of 1789.
Sept. 16, 1899 Civiltà Cattolica, Sept. 16, 1899, p.749, on the Third Zionist Congress:
The Zionist Jews held their third Congress at Basel under the presidency of Dr. Herzl, who is well known as the zealous “apostle” for the re-establishment of the ancient Kingdom of Judea. In its final session, the Congress elected a large Action Committee, which will have the task of fulfilling the resolutions passed thus far. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and America have two representatives on this Committee; Romania and Britain have three; Russia twelve; and France, Galicia, Italy, Transvaal, Belgium, Switzerland and Egypt have one. That means the Zionists have received support more or less proportional to the numbers of Israelites in nearly all the world. Indeed, some newspapers recounted that the richest and most powerful Jews have already resorted to the Sultan and the Ottoman Porte [government], cloaking themselves in strong protections and having the most seductive promises flashed about, in connection with certain concessions; but, not daring to arouse the opposition of Christian peoples by an insult to the Holy Places, they did not say a word about Jerusalem and nearby territories; rather limiting themselves to asking for the settlement of some Syrian districts and the island of Cyprus. As concerns the latter, however, the final result of these operations will depend more on the consent of Britain than of Turkey, and it appears that the Court of St. James, in order to protect itself from importunities, has put forward the jealousy of the Cypriots for their own Greek nationality and their fears that excessive numbers of Jews, allied with the Muslims, would be able one day to gain the upper hand over the Christians. In consideration of that, Great Britain may allow some Jewish settlements in Cyprus, but in limited numbers so as not to give umbrage to the current population and not to create a continuing source of disorders.Meager success, as anyone can see; but what sort of Zionism is this, which even at the initial steps renounces Jerusalem and the entire ancient Kingdom of Palestine? Is that not equivalent to a renunciation of itself and a proclamation that its own goals are utopian? Why not give up the very name of Zionism? The deicide race, despite all the favors lavished on it by the anti-Christian sects, feels defeated before fighting, overcome by the Nazarene.
January 25, 1904 Theodor Herzl's diary on his audience with Pope Pius X this date; excerpts:
We cannot give approval to this movement. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem – but we could never sanction it. The soil of Jerusalem, if it was not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot tell you anything different. The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people...
Pope St. Pius X’s words to Herzl also touched upon the pivotal time when the Roman Empire, as reported by Josephus Flavius, superseded Israel by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70:
He spoke of the Temple at Jerusalem. It had been destroyed forever. Did I suppose that one ought to reconstruct it and perform the sacrificial services there in the ancient way? He also talked about Josephus Flavius and quoted him; but I didn’t quite understand that.
Source: Raphael Patai, ed., The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl, trans. H. Zohn (1960), vol. IV, pp. 1602-1603, 1606-1607.
Easter 1907 Pope St. Pius X on bad press and good press:
In face of unrestrained license of the anti-Catholic press, which impugns or denies eternal laws of truth and justice, which stirs up hatred against the Church, which insinuates into people’s hearts most pernicious doctrines, corrupting minds, fostering evil appetites, flattering the senses and perverting the will – all ought to recognize the great importance of union between good people for turning to advantage of the Church and society a weapon the enemy uses to injure both.
Source: Croce of Naples, reprinted in English translation in “The French Ecclesiastical Revolution,” American Catholic Quarterly Review, vol. 32 (1907), p.665.
February 9, 1916 Cardinal Gasparri’s letter to the President and Directors of the American Jewish Committee was published on May 6, 1916 in Civiltà Cattolica:
Contemporary ChronicleRome, April 8-28, 1916
I. Events in Rome ...
1. Just published since mid-April was the letter that the Holy Father had sent on February 9 by the Cardinal Secretary of State to President Marschall and all the members of the executive committee of the “American Jewish Committee” of New York, in response to the letter that Jews of the United States of America sent to Benedict XV, to implore pontifical mediation in favor of their brethren in Europe who have often suffered opposition and travails in regions ravaged by the war, especially those where the Russians are waging war.
Here is the most noble papal document, which enhances the merits of Benedict XV as a pacifier in the current war:
Sirs,
The Supreme Pontiff has sincerely taken cognizance of the letter that you addressed on December 30, 1915.
It is in the name of three million Israelite citizens of the United States of America that you turn to His Holiness to denounce in a general manner the treatment to which your co-religionists are forced to be exposed in various regions, and at the same time ask Him to intervene “with the weight of His supreme moral and spiritual power so that this suffering might finally be ended, with an act of that humanitarianism to which the Holy Father is so passionately devoted.”
The Supreme Pontiff is not in position to pronounce on the particular facts referred to in the “memorandum” attached to your letter; but on principle, as head of the Catholic Church, which, faithful to its divine doctrine and to its most glorious traditions, considers all men as brothers and teaches them to love one another, [he] does not cease to inculcate among individuals, as among peoples, the observance of the principles of natural law, and to reprove all that violates them.
This law must be observed and respected toward the children of Israel as toward all men, because it would not be consistent with justice and with religion itself to derogate from it solely on account of divergence of religious confessions...
Italian original: page 358 and page 359
June 30, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Most Reverend Eminence,Having returned this morning to Munich, I am fulfilling without delay my duty to send Your Most Reverend Eminence a more detailed report of my trip to Berlin and Kreuznach, of which I already had the honor to send news to you telegraphically in my respectful coded cables of the 26th and 30th this month.
Leaving here accompanied by Msgr. Schioppa, the Auditor of this Nunciature, on the evening of Monday the 25th, I arrived in Berlin the following morning at 7:20. At the station to receive me was Deputy Erzberger, who, with a splendid military automobile, which was placed at my complete disposition during all the time of my stay in Berlin by the Ministry of War, accompanied me to the Hotel Continental, one of the best in the Capital, where I was lodged in a very dignified apartment on the first floor, as the guest of the Imperial Government. I will say here that immediately upon my first encounter with Mr. Erzberger, I renewed the request, already made to him in writing, to arrange that the press would not speak about my trip, in order to avoid future hostile comments toward the Holy See on the part of the Entente's newspapers, which in all probability would have represented the selfsame Holy See as always more closely tied to the Central Powers and inclined to cooperate with them for the achievement of a so-called German peace. This request achieved full effect, as the newspapers were prevented by the Censor from giving any hint of the matter.
I celebrated Holy Mass at the nearby Catholic Church of St. Hedwig, then met first, at 10:00, Dr. Jordan, First Legation Secretary, assigned to me personally by the Foreign Ministry, and then, at 10:15, Mr. Diego von Bergen, First Minister, already well known to me because for several years he was in Rome as the Secretary of the Prussian Legation to the Holy See, and he gave me some useful information for my audience with the Chancellor of the Reich. This took place at 11:30 and was truly marked by the most respectful deference and the most sincere cordiality. Making the customary compliments, Mr. von Bethmann-Hollweg (who is a man of imposing figure, of pronounced features, and rather rough appearance, but frank and loyal) inquired attentively into the precious health of the Holy Father, and I, after giving him the news he requested, gave him the copy of the Letter that His Holiness has addressed to His Majesty the Kaiser. He read it in its entirety with the fullest attention and he immediately spoke with admiration and praise of the attitude and humanitarian intentions of the August Pontiff. He said that Germany sincerely desires an end to this horrible war that it did not provoke, as it well demonstrated this past December with its offer to enter into peace negotiations with the enemy States...
... he charged me repeatedly to say to the Holy Father that he counts greatly on His activity, convinced that the August Pontiff is destined to play a major role when the time comes for the desired peace...
My departure for General Headquarters took place Thursday evening in a sumptuous Imperial special train car, where I was seated with Msgr. Schioppa and the aforesaid Mr. Jordan, who was assigned to accompany me. Arriving at Kreuznach at 9:30 Friday morning, the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, - after having celebrated Holy Mass in the chapel of the large Lazzaretto Hospital (over which the Papal flag was flying), which was attended by the Generals-Plenipotentiary of Austria-Hungary and Bavaria - I was taken by Imperial automobile to the residence of His Majesty, where an elegant apartment had been prepared for me. The Imperial audience took place with solemnity at 12:45. After the customary introduction to civil and military dignitaries of the Imperial household, I was brought into the presence of the Kaiser, handing over to him the venerated Pontifical Original Letter, explaining to him, in accordance with the instructions I received, the anxious preoccupations of the Holy Father about the prolongation of the war, building up hatreds and accumulating material and moral destruction, which represents the suicide of civilized Europe and reverses centuries of progress of humanity...
His Majesty listened to me with respectful and serious attention. I will say right away, however, that in the way he fixed his gaze, in gesture and voice, He (not so much by nature as in consequence of the preoccupations of three long years of war) appeared overexcited and not at all well-balanced... He recalled the peace offer of last December, lamenting that the Holy Father had not spoken out then, while Wilson had. Naturally I explained to His Majesty the reasons for this silence, which already had been highlighted, moreover, briefly but clearly, in the selfsame Pontifical Letter. Then the Emperor spoke to me at length about the perils that international socialism presents to action in favor of peace and insisted a great deal on the necessity that the Holy Father issue a solemn document addressed not indeed to Governments, but to clergy and to the faithful of the whole world, commanding prayer and work in concord in favor of peace. He had no doubt of the efficacy of such a pontifical prescription. There are, he said, two powerful organizations on the earth: the Catholic hierarchy and the Prussian army, which are threatened today by international socialism. Then he spoke to me about the current King of Italy, atheist, profound hater of priests and monks, and whom he called the “traitor king.” In March 1914, Victor Emmanuel III expressly promised him that, if the issue were presented, the armies of Italy would be deployed alongside Germany! He is finished forever, added the Kaiser, with the House of Savoy, who will have to pay for their betrayal (and here he made the same gesture with clenched fist that he did at the beginning). The Pope’s situation is intolerable; it is necessary in the interest of his sovereignty that he have an independent territory with access to the sea to assure freedom of communications...
Source: Italian original and German summary at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 366. The original is reprinted from Historical Archive of the Secretariat of State (Holy See), Section for Relations with States, Vatican Secret Archives, AA.EE.SS., Stati Ecclesiastici, 1914-1921, pos. 1317, fasc. 470, vol. III, fol. 111r-120v.
July 27, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Your Most Reverend Eminence,Following up on my respectful coded cable of the 25th, I am fulfilling my duty, upon returning to Munich, of giving Your Most Reverend Eminence a more particularized report of the discussions I had in Berlin about the peace proposals by the Holy See.
Arriving in the Capital on the 24th, I immediately had a long conference both with Mr. Michaelis, the new Reich Chancellor, and with Mr. Zimmermann ... After the usual pleasantries, I told them that the Holy Father and Your Eminence were left very satisfied by the most courteous welcome and the openness shown me by the Imperial Government, on the occasion of my first visit to Berlin, concerning the views of Germany on the principal questions that relate to the current conflict and to the way of ending it, and indeed that the Holy See would consider presenting, either immediately or this coming autumn (when the offensive will have ended and its ineffectiveness will be evident), to all or at least to the principal belligerent States, a peace proposal on the fundamentals, of which I gave copies to both the aforesaid Men of State in Italian, as well as in an exact German translation that I had taken care to have prepared. I added that, although these fundamentals had not yet been communicated to the other Powers, nonetheless the selfsame Holy See, based on information that is possible for It to obtain thanks to its admirable worldwide organization, believed able to consider not indeed certain, but seriously probable, that the proposal itself would be welcome. However, the Holy See, before proceeding to an official step with the various States, desired, out of a special regard toward Germany, which has shown itself more inclined toward peace than all the others, to know confidentially the thoughts of the Reich Government concerning the often-mentioned foundations. I concluded that Germany, showing itself conciliatory in a way to expedite peace, would add to military glory the merit of having given back to humanity a new era of civilization and prosperity, and would regain the sympathy of the whole world, while the new Chancellor would thus begin his exalted office under the best auspices...
Source: Historical Archive of the Secretariat of State (Holy See), Section for Relations with States, Vatican Secret Archives, AA.EE.SS., Stati Ecclesiastici, 1914-1921, pos. 1317, fasc. 470, vol. III, fol. 148r-151v, reprinted at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 378.
Sept. 4, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Re: Request for intervention by the Holy See in favor of the Israelite communityMost Reverend Eminence,
The Israelite communities of the German Empire, by way of the “Free Association for the Interests of Orthodox Jewry” of Frankfurt and Professor Dr. Werner, rabbi of Munich, have turned to this Nunciature for the following purpose:
According to the words of the Bible, the aforesaid communities, for the Laubenhüttenfest or feast of tabernacles (which occurs on the first of October), have need of palms, which ordinarily come to them from Italy. Now, unexpectedly and against its own interest, the Italian Government has suddenly prohibited the export of palms that are available at Como, nor can they be fetched up to now, even though they cannot serve any purpose as food or any other advantage. Time is of the essence, since the exportation should take place within a few days, in order that the palms not arrive too late, especially since they were supposed to be distributed then throughout Germany.
The Israelite communities thus confide in an intervention of the Holy See with the Italian Government and ask the Apostolic Nunciature to intercede for this purpose, adding that thousands of members, faithful to their religion, would prove their profound gratitude for a happy success.
It seemed to me that this concerned not indeed an assistance provided to the Israelite communities for a purely civil purpose or for the protection of natural rights common to all men (in that there would not have been any problem), but rather a cooperation, material and remote, but positive and direct, in the exercise of Jewish worship. I therefore responded courteously to the aforementioned rabbi that, since it was not possible for me to use the telegraph for such a matter (which, because entirely extraordinary, would have required much explanation), I would have an urgent report sent immediately about this to the Holy See, but that I foresaw that because of the timespan for communications it would be difficult for it to arrive in time, and moreover I did not know what action the Holy Father would be able to take in this regard with the Italian Government...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 4018.
Sept. 18, 1917 Gasparri to Pacelli:
Most Illustrious and Reverend Signore,Your Most Illustrious Excellency’s Report no. 1258 of Sept. 4th reached me in due course, concerning the subject of “the request for intervention by the Holy See in favor of the Israelite communities.”
I have taken cognizance of what you brought to my attention, and I entirely approve the way you handled this delicate matter, since the Holy See, obviously, cannot support the request of Prof. Dr. Werner. Therefore, in giving a response in that sense to the same gentleman – a response that I refer to your well-known dexterity – you will be able to insist on the fact that the Holy See does not maintain diplomatic relations with the Italian Government.
I take advantage of this occasion to confirm further the receipt of Report no. 1210 of August 30th concerning the sending of a report by Deputy Erzberger, and with sentiments of distinct and sincere esteem …
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition, Document No. 9612.
Sept. 28, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Re: Concerning the Israelite Communities of GermanyMost Reverend Eminence,
As soon as Your Most Reverend Eminence’s venerated Dispatch No. 41955 of September 18th arrived, concerning the notable request for intervention by the Holy See in favor of the Israelite Communities, I devoted my attention to communicating verbally with all delicacy to Professor Werner what Your Eminence so indulgently signified to me in the cited Dispatch, insisting in particular on the fact that the Holy See does not maintain diplomatic relations with the Italian Government.
Professor Werner showed himself to be perfectly convinced by the reasons expounded to him and thanked me warmly for what I had done in this regard...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 4019.
Oct. 17, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri:
In compliance with the venerated instructions imparted to me by Your Most Reverend Eminence via Your encrypted cable of August 26th, and after having accomplished the considerable operations necessary, whether it be with the Military Authorities here, or with Switzerland to expedite the packets, about which I had the honor to communicate to Your Eminence by my respectful Report No. 638, I was finally able today to visit the prisoner-of-war camp at Puchheim, where more than six hundred French and one thousand Russian prisoners are quartered, almost all of them simple soldiers or non-commissioned officers.Arriving at the aforesaid camp, accompanied by the Secretary of the Nunciature, by General Voetter and by His Highness Prince Oettingen-Wallerstein, a Lieutenant à la Suite in the Army, placed at my disposal by the War Ministry here, I found all the prisoners (with the exception of those who were sick and those who were occupied with work in the camps) gathered together, despite the rather cold temperature, in an open area; and having the French come closer to me (to whom alone it was possible for me to speak in their language), I directed the following words to them:
“My dear friends. I feel a deep emotion and a true satisfaction in being among you at this moment, and in being able to express to you in person the sentiments of paternal tenderness and affectionate devotion with which He whom I represent, your father and mine, the Sovereign Pontiff, does not cease to surround you in all your trials.
“You know all that Pope Benedict XV has already done and all that he would still like to do to ameliorate the lot of unfortunate prisoners of war. While I was working with Him at the Vatican, I was often moved in realizing, at the moment when He was giving me His orders, to what extent Our Holy Father was expressing His benevolent solicitude for the prisoners. One could say that He does not cease to think of them, to reflect on possible ways to soften the sorrows of their situation.
“How deeply I would like to have you feel, my friends, this tenderness of the Pope! It is in His name and with His great heart that I say to you: Courage and trust! When at times your life at the moment may seem heavier, remember immediately that Someone carried for us, by love, by devotion, a Cross even more heavy and no less bloody, and seek in prayer a new strength to climb your Calvary!
“Your Cross, it is made heavier by the thought of your families, by this so painful separation from all whom you love, by the same thought that your own captivity causes them to suffer. It is also prayer that will console you, because prayer will bring you close to those who are praying for you at the same instant perhaps that you yourself are praying for them.
“Yes, it is at the foot of the Cross, it is upon the Heart of Our Lord, that you will most surely find a bit of consolation in your trials, more strength to endure with a valor worthy of Christians and Frenchmen.
“The visible center of this consolation and of this strength, as you know, is in the very heart of the Pope. It is from this living source that I will draw the blessing, directly in His name and by His will, that I am going to invoke upon you, as the token of His inexhaustible love, His unceasing devotion for you who are His sons and are all the more dear to Him the more unfortunate you are.”
After this I imparted the benediction and immediately had the packets distributed, which were pre-positioned at my side on two large tables. Each of them was bundled in paper bearing the imprint of the papal tiara and the message: “The Holy Father offers with blessing,” and contained 200g of chocolate, 1 packet of biscotti, 6 packets of American cigarettes, 125g of soap, 1 breakfast chocolate milk, 100g of tea, 200g of sugar. To the French priest Deschamps, himself a prisoner of war, with spiritual care for Catholics detained in that camp, I gave the task of distributing the medals, which I had brought with me, to those he believed most opportune, having regard to the religion and principles they professed. Then a long and pitiful line of prisoners began to pass before me (many of whose martyrdom has lasted for more than three years), the greater part of them in tattered clothes, pallid, dirty, some of them, especially among the Russians, half in a daze. All of them, French, Russian Catholics, Russian Schismatics (with the sole exception of the Russian Jews), respectfully kissed my ring, thanking me movingly, and more than one asked me to express to His Holiness sentiments of deepest gratitude for His charity and His condescension. I spoke some words of comfort to them and wanted to inform myself about their condition; but it was impossible for them to open up sincerely, since they were always surrounded by German officers who, especially whenever any prisoner showed an interest in talking with me, came ever closer with the obvious intention of listening to our conversation. So, under the watchful guard of their keepers, the greater part of them responded in a sad manner that they were fine; some, not having perhaps the strength, stared at me, without offering a word, with inexpressive, sad, anguished eyes. Only at the end of the visit did I succeed, by eluding for the moment the vigilance of the officers, in talking freely, albeit with utmost circumspection, with a Frenchman. He confided to me the moral suffering of the poor prisoners, told me the food is completely insufficient, and that packets sent by their own families are not delivered or have some of their contents removed.
The distribution of packets being finished, I was accompanied by the aforesaid Genral Voetter and the local Commandant to visit the vast camp...
Within days I will visit the important camp at Ingolstadt, where many officers, in addition to the simple men of the troops, are confined.
Bowing to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 4021.
Oct. 22, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Most Reverend Eminence,As Your Eminence deigned to write me in Your venerated confidential letter of Oct. 13th, it is most true, and no one deplores more than I, the blindness and obstinacy of the men who currently govern Germany. A few days ago, Mr. Bethmann-Hollweg came to visit me privately here in Munich. I recalled to him how much he had done for me on the occasion of my first visit to Berlin, concerning the various questions related to peace, and he affirmed and confirmed everything. I believe that if Bethmann-Hollweg would have remained in power, Germany’s response to the Pontifical Appeal would have been more along the lines of the most just desires of Your Eminence and more in the interests of the Central Powers themselves. It is said he was overthrown first of all by the excellent Erzberger, to whom, however, as he added without bitterness, he has shown the greatest loyalty! I do not want, in this, to promote complaints against Erzberger, who was brought to this step, of which he did not reckon the importance, by his rather impulsive character; but unfortunately the consequences were rather harmful. Now we will see if, as a result of the crisis, someone will rise to power with a broader viewpoint than the Protestant-bigot Michaelis.
To turn to Mr. Erzberger, he is at this moment the object of great hostility and very strong attacks, even by many distinguished Catholics and members of the Center Party. Count von Hertling himself has often spoken to me strongly against him, as an unbalanced, dangerous, and compromising man. He has added that Erzberger is the agent of Prince Bülow, whose future return as Chancellor Hertling considers (as the result of known former disagreements with the Center Party) as a catastrophe; however, this could perhaps be doubted for various reasons. I have known that also His Eminence Cardinal Hartmann (whose sentiments – I am told – are rather pan-Germanistic) is decidedly adverse to Erzberger, as are all conservative Catholics, who condemn the well-known Reichstag peace resolution successfully moved by Erzberger, and his tendencies in favor of the “parliamentarization” of Germany. Despite such oppositions, I do not believe I can abandon him, since he is intelligent, good, animated by the best intentions, phenomenally energetic, and has offered and rendered (unique perhaps among the political men of the Center Party), spontaneously, a great many services to the Nunciature and the Holy See; but I must naturally use the utmost circumspection, all the more so because among his undeniably eminent qualities, prudence, restraint and reserve are certainly not the most prominent.
After this, wishing Your Eminence every grace and benediction from the Lord, with sentiments of unalterable devotion, liveliest gratitude and most profound obsequy, I bow to kiss the Sacred Purple and have the honor to profess myself
Your Most Reverend Eminence’s
Most Humble, Most Devoted, Most Obliged Servant
+Eugenio, Archbishop of Sardis
Apostolic Nuncio
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 4043.
Nov. 15, 1917 Gasparri to Pacelli, encrypted cable:
Swiss Israelitic communities have supplicated the Holy Father to take an interest in the safety of Jewish places and population of Jerusalem. I therefore invite Your Illustrious Excellency to act solicitously with the German Government in the name of the Holy Father in the desired sense.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2389.
Nov. 30, 1917 Gasparri to Pacelli, by encrypted cable:
I am informed that the Ottoman Government has the intention to issue three dispositive laws concerning marriages of Muslims, Hebrews, Christians. It recognizes Christian marriage celebrated before a civil functionary, establishes impediments and divorce: it does not want to accept a regulation about Catholic marriage. The Apostolic Delegate has presented a regulation for Catholics. Your Illustrious Excellency shall intervene to strive effectively to have the Berlin Government act upon the Ottoman Government to accept this guideline.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 5999.
Dec. 6, 1917 Schioppa to Gasparri:
Re: Transmission of petitionMost Reverend Eminence,
Enclosed herewith I have the honor to send Your Most Reverend Eminence a petition, duly recommended by the Prince-Bishop’s Delegate in Berlin, in which the Administration of the Jewish Women's Association of Berlin asks this Nunciature to implore the exalted intervention of the Holy Father for a cessation of the current persecutions against Jews, especially in Galicia and Poland.
Beseeching Your Eminence to please lay this supplication – if it is so deemed – before the August Throne of His Holiness, humbly bowing to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2119.
Dec. 8, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri:
In my respectful Confidential Report of October 22nd, I had the honor to inform Your Most Reverend Eminence of the hostility and attacks that were targeting Deputy Erzberger, especially by distinguished Catholics and members of the Center Party. These oppositions have neither ceased nor diminished; and some Catholic political personages on the conservative side, among them Baron Frankenstein [usually spelled Franckenstein], notable member of the Reichstag, have come to visit me, asking me to make known to the Holy See that Mr. Erzberger, who has remained for a long time the principal source of information for the Nunciature and the Holy See itself, does not represent, from the viewpoint either of foreign policy or of domestic reforms, the entire Center Party delegation in the Reichstag, much less the entire Party. I have responded that undoubtedly Mr. Erzberger furnishes spontaneously and continually much important news, but he is neither the only nor the most important source of information, and that, moreover, I would be grateful also to members of the minority of the Reichstag, to which the aforementioned Gentlemen belong, if they too would like to favor me with reliable reports verbally or in writing about German’s various political events and express therein to me their point of view, since only with knowledge and discussion of various inclinations is it possible to make an exact and complete judgment of the situation. The discontent of the aforementioned Gentlemen against Mr. Erzberger was especially provoked by the famous peace resolution approved by the Reichstag this past July 19th. Voting against it was a minority composed of five members of the Center Party in addition to the Conservatives and the Nationalist Liberals: two other Center Party members abstained, since, notwithstanding their aversion toward it, they did not want to assume too harsh a posture with respect to peace. The majority of the Party was divided in two groups, of which one fully approved Erzberger’s thought, while the other had more or less serious concerns about it, and probably would have lined up against the proposal, had they not been taken by surprise and impressed by the speech of Erzberger himself in the Reichstag Committee.This division in the Center Party delegation corresponds to the difference of opinions that has long existed within it over the question of the so-called war goals or Kriegsziele. All are in agreement that the territorial integrity of Germany is inviolable and must be defended at all costs; all are also, or at least say they are, united in the desire for an expeditious peace; all avow equally that the future economic development of Germany must be guaranteed in any case, and the security of the Fatherland must be enhanced to the maximum. Plans of conquest, yearnings for annexations, humiliation and annihilation of enemies, as goals in themselves, find no open followers in the ranks of the Center Party. Nevertheless, within these limits, a profound divergence of views is manifest. Not a few, in fact, maintain that without enlargements of territory and relative indemnities of war, it is impossible to assure to Germany political security and the necessary economic development; and in particular in the question of Belgium they deem unacceptable the restoration of that country to full independence. For this reason, Scheidemann’s formula “without annexations, without reparations,” encounters even in Center Party circles the strongest disapproval; and in the Reichstag resolution of July 19th it was above all the renunciation of annexations (“erzwungene Gebietserweiterungen”) that aroused the greatest opposition, opposition that then became ever stronger after the recent successes of the Central Powers and will probably increase even more if, freed up from the eastern front, they are able to launch (as is already expected here) a big offensive in the west against England and France.
Erzberger’s action had as a necessary consequence the formation in the Reichstag of a majority composed of the Center Party, the Progressives and the Socialists. The cooperative work among these three parties has become increasingly close; all important questions are discussed and resolved by their leaders (in many cases with the participation of the Nationalist Liberals) in joint meetings, in which the Center Party is represented by Erzberger with Trimborn or Fehrenbach. The result is that these parties are currently deciding and determining by joint accord the foreign and domestic policy of Germany.
Now Baron Frankenstein and his friends profoundly deplore this intimate alliance, not for its manner of acting for a particular goal [not per modum actus], but for its very essence [per modum habitus] – the Center Party with the other two aforesaid parties of the left which want the parliamentarization and centralization of Germany, two tendencies which the Center Party has combatted up to now on fundamental principle. Nor is this all; the Center Party (these Gentlemen also observe) has united itself in cooperative work with those parties that want to eliminate the Christian idea from the State and direct their forces to separate schools and the State from the Church and go so far as to oppose the adoption of legislative enactments directed to the protection of youth from irreligious and immoral literature.
This group of strictly conservative tendencies in domestic politics and pan-Germanic ones in foreign policy, and which therefore inclines toward the new Fatherland Party (Vaterlandspartei) headed by the famous Admiral von Tirpitz, is favored and supported by a notable part of the clergy whether secular or religious, and His Eminence Cardinal Hartmann, Archbishop of Cologne (as I have been assured and had occasion to report it to Your Eminence in my aforementioned Report). That is why all, as a natural consequence, could not succeed in accepting the work of this Nunciature directed to supporting with devoted zeal the Holy Father’s action in favor of peace in conformity with the proposed bases in the Pontifical Appeal and which thus coincided rather with the program of Erzberger and with the Reichstag resolution rather than with the postulates of the Fatherland Party. The aforesaid distinguished conservative and pan-Germanistic Catholics undoubtedly greeted the aforesaid Appeal with dutiful respect; nevertheless, in reality, they were discontented, since it appeared to be contrary to their aspirations and favorable to the Entente. For that reason they kept maintaining that the Pontifical Note did not constitute a question of conscience, nor a resolution in a matter of faith or morals, nor a measure of internal Church government; and even as some of its individual points expressed reservations especially concerning the question of Belgium. (Cf. also Fr. Ehrle, S.J., “Die päpstliche Friedensnote an die Häupter der Kriegsführenden Völker vom 1. August 1917,” [The Papal Peace Note to the Heads of the Warring Nations of August 1, 1917], in Stimmen der Zeit, Vol. 94, 1st Issue, October 1917). As to Alsace-Lorraine, according to them such question no longer existed for Germany.
I come now to the particular question of the person of the aforesaid Cardinal Hartmann. Already before I arrived in Germany, the Most Eminent Archbishop of Cologne honored me, as Your Eminence undoubtedly recalls, with a frequent and large correspondence, and this continued uninterruptedly after my arrival here, remaining always courteous and indeed, if this word on my part is not too bold, cordial. His Eminence often asked me about questions of law (cf., for example, my Report no. 1762 dated this October 9th); and I, in my turn, just recently submitted to him my proposal of Instructions to the Bishops and Religious Superiors of Germany Concerning the Military Clergy, to which he solicitously replied, giving it ample praise and calling it a “vortreffliche,höchst begrüssenswerte Instruktion.” [outstanding, extremely welcome instruction]
On the occasion of my first trip to Berlin and General Headquarters, I planned to go also to Cologne, as stated in my obsequious encrypted cable of this June 19th, and I had respectfully given advance notice to this Highest Eminence; but at the last moment, His Majesty the Emperor of Austria having come to Munich for a few hours, where he also received the Diplomatic Corps, I was obliged to put off that visit to a more opportune time (cf. Report no. 440 of June 30th). And in fact, on the first of September, anticipating perhaps a break of several days from the continuing work of this Nunciature, I hastened to communicate to Cardinal von Hartmann my proposal to effectuate the desired trip; but I received the response that his Highest Eminence, while having a strong interest in speaking to me, was however at that moment far from Cologne for a cure at the baths. From then on, because of the ever more pressing work that had to be attended to, I did not believe I could in conscience absent myself, even for a very brief time, except for the four and a half days I devoted to the visits to the prisoner of war camps of Puchheim and Ingolstadt. But also of this impossibility, I gave most obsequious timely notice by letter to the oft-lauded Archbishop, asking Him to excuse the involuntary delay and assuring Him of my continuing desire to express in person my sentiments of most profound veneration and hear from Him such important information and wise counsel as He might be pleased to impart to me.
Despite all that, according to what has just been reported to me, the Most Eminent von Hartmann is complaining of not having any meeting with me up to now and has deplored that, while I am dealing continually with Erzberger, I have still not spoken with him, who could inform me, rather than hearing from said Deputy and his followers, about the true sentiments of the intelligent and sensible part of the Catholics of Germany. Even though, after all I have been permitted to express here about the political opinions of the Archbishop of Cologne, his statements, if also corresponding fully to the truth, do not seem to me surprising, nevertheless I believed it my duty to inform Your Eminence, and most of all to request, to the extent You may deem it useful, permission to absent myself for several days from Munich and go to Cologne, and secondly to implore from Your Eminence any instructions that are deemed in order.
In conclusion, while I take this parting occasion to humbly give Your Eminence my best wishes for all the best in the now approaching recurrence of Most Holy Christmas, I bow to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 225.
Dec. 14, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri, encrypted telegram:
I confirm receipt of Your Reverend Eminence’s encrypted telegram no. 14. The Foreign Ministry here now responds to my note of November 16th that, according to information received from the Berlin Foreign Ministry, there is no reason to fear Turkish Authorities, especially in Palestine, taking any measures against the Jewish population, and that Jerusalem and other cities, objects of Christian and Jewish veneration, will be spared and protected, to the extent that military necessities allow.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 4296.
Dec. 18, 1917 Ambassador Otto Baron von Ritter zu Groenesteyn to Pacelli:
Secret!Most Reverend and Dear Monsignor!
Recalling your cordial invitation at Lindau Harbor to write you often and frankly if I should ever have any concern about any matter, I want to make known to you today one such concern in an entirely confidential and absolutely unofficial manner.
As you know, I was charged some time ago to bring to the attention of His Holiness the Pope the urgent desire of His Majesty the King of Bavaria to see His Excellency Archbishop von Faulhaber named Cardinal as soon as possible, together with a request for the fulfillment of this desire. The expression of this desire was occasioned by the rumor of an impending Consistory.
I expressed myself along these lines to His Eminence the Lord Cardinal Secretary of State with the request that His Holiness be correspondingly informed.
Whereupon I have now received the answer of His Eminence, which reads as follows:
I had the honor to receive the Confidential Note of October 30th, by which Your Excellency has graciously expressed to me the strong desire of His Majesty the King of Bavaria to see the holder of the Archepiscopal See of Munich elevated to the honors of the Sacred Purple in the event of an upcoming Consistory taking place.In this matter I have the honor of informing Your Excellency that the news of an upcoming Consistory, announced by some newspapers, is entirely lacking in foundation.
Since His Eminence says absolutely nothing in this Note of the desire of His Majesty having been made known to the Holy Father, and since moreover the Note is so worded as if this desire had been expressed only for the putative Consistory in the month of December this year, I fear that the answer of His Eminence will arouse dismay on the Promenadeplatz...
Source: Vatican Secret Archives, Archive of the Munich Nunciature, pos. 349, fasc. 4, fol. 12r-17v, reprinted at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 6385.
Dec. 27, 1917 Matthias Erzberger’s letter to Michael von Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich:
Your Excellency,Please allow me to convey the following thoughts with the request that they be subjected to a thoroughgoing examination.
At the end of the terrible World War a great Catholic renaissance will and must be initiated. The nationalistic, egotistic, old-pagan power idea has collapsed; it plunged the countries into dire straits before the war and into a bloodbath during the war; the saying that war is the “last resort,” which the world believed for years, has been proven deceptive. Only godly, Christian justice can be the foundation for a more favorable development of peoples in the future. The power of war has raged for 3-1/2 years; its end, however, will be the triumph of justice. A real hunger for the concept of justice and precepts of justice will flow through mankind.
Who should and can take this hunger into account? Only Catholicism, which unifies authority in an auspicious way, which paves the way for true democracy, gives “a highway for all the righteous” and yet forms the foundation of all authority. Social Democracy with its general concepts of freedom and denial of authority cannot work constructively; the implementation of the Social Democratic idea has failed in agriculture and industrial production, despite the military dictatorship. What today is called conservative party politics is not represented by the old saying: “Not majority, but authority,” rather it embraces the most open brutality that knows only oppression and ruthless power. Protestantism, as a force of the mind and the heart, has completely collapsed in the war, has accomplished nothing for the reconciliation of peoples; it has died in its 400th anniversary year.
War, which represents lawlessness among countries, has had the natural result that lawlessness prevails also in the interior life. The terribly true phrase of the Englishman about “moratorium of the Sermon on the Mount” needs to be expanded: the war has made the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Commandments null and void. Humanity must be brought up anew. As far as I can survey the situation, this moral moratorium has really worked most devastatingly among the so-called “educated circles,” in which Mammon and power have appeared most strongly in place of self-sacrifice and justice; this mania on high has manifestly spread and increased as it flows down.
It has been more than 100 years since the time when world-spanning Catholicism necessarily encompassed all fields, namely the powers of the cultural and intellectual world. New forms must be sought in order to make the old Catholic spirit alive after the war and transmittable into a hungry society. The exhortation of our reverend Bishops has shown the way here.
Please allow me to submit the further expression of the following thoughts:
1. As to what concerns the political organization of German Catholics, that will still be found after the war in the Center Party. It is completely obvious that the Center will be able to take in stride a sound and just democracy. The Peace Resolution was the pathbreaker for this. Today, when we are preparing the way for a provisional peace with Russia on its soil and for the proclamation of the Holy Father, the Peace Resolution stands undisputed as the champion of justice. Today millions of Catholics and Center Party voters will be grateful that the Party became the pathbreaker of inviolable justice through the Resolution of July 19th. What needs to be adjusted in the Center Party, if I may be allowed, is something that I will explain to Your Excellency verbally the next time I am in Munich.
2. For the academic endeavors of German Catholics there is the Görres Society, which I promise will have a great future after the war, especially since its Chairman has now become Reich Chancellor [Georg von Hertling]. Now, when so much money is at hand, there must be consideration of a direct increase in capital for the Görres Society.
3. The People’s Association for Catholic Germany will take public education in hand, after as before. It has proven itself during the War to be very adaptable.
4. The International Catholic Union, whose seat is in Switzerland, will render great service by the closer association of Catholics from various countries. Now that a Group for International Law has been established in Germany, the Union has already gained a broader field of action. It is precisely this group that has a highly promising future in representing the concept of justice.
5. The Committee for Defense of German and Catholic Interests Overseas will also find a great field of action after the war, in making clear to other peoples the distinctive German contributions to Catholicism.
6. What we are lacking, on account of which I turn to Your Excellency with a particular request, is: a creative center for the cultural-intellectual world, literature, theater, etc., a center that influences all the individual organizations, leading and directing them intellectually; the center of a great Catholic renaissance. The seat for this, in my opinion, can only be in Munich. There the royal court is Catholic, the representative of His Holiness the Pope is in Munich, the government ministers are overwhelmingly Catholic, the majority of the state population is Catholic. The acknowledged leader is Your Excellency. I have thought through the following for execution of the plan:
If Your Excellency would take the trouble to allow an open discussion among respected leading Catholics in cultural and intellectual life to take place, for instance, every Thursday evening in the Archbishop’s palace, then a seed would be sown that would yield hundred- or thousand-fold fruit. A short lecture could sometimes start off the discussion and have the effect of clarifying and deepening the exchange. Quite soon there would come to these conferences not only Munichers and Bavarians, but men from the entire German Reich, at Your Excellency’s invitation. I am strongly convinced that similar conferences could soon be introduced in most of the episcopal sees. An exchange of ideas and speakers would occur spontaneously. Thus we would have focal points for intellectual, religious and cultural life. Foreigners and non-Catholics would ask to be allowed into these conferences. The blessing of such an institution cannot even be imagined today. It is the introduction of the great Catholic renaissance.
Since I have only put these thoughts to paper briefly, may I be allowed to bring them before Your Excellency in more detail verbally the next time I am in Munich.
With sincerest best wishes for the New Year and with the expression of my highest esteem, I have the honor to be,
Your Excellency’s entirely devoted,
/s/ M. Erzberger
Member of the Reich Parliament
Source: Erzberger to Faulhaber, Dec. 27, 1917, Munich Archdiocese Archive, Nachlass Faulhaber, no. 7228, reprinted in L. Volk, ed., Akten Kardinal Michael von Faulhabers, 1917-1945 [Faulhaber Papers] (1975), vol.1, pp. 24-26. This volume contains no record of a response by Archbishop Faulhaber.
1918
Jan. 9, 1918 Memorandum in Munich Nunciature files dated Jan. 9, 1918:
Title: Secret Documents Published by the Bolshevik Government... Excerpts from the agreement concluded among Great Britain, France and Russia with Italy to give combined assurances to the latter.
... Art. 15. France, England and Russia undertake to support Italy to prevent the Holy See from undertaking any diplomatic step intended for the achievement of peace and the resolution of issues that are related to the current war.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 8005.
Jan. 20, 1918 Munich Archdiocesan newspaper’s detailed report on the organization of Freemason lodges in Germany includes this passage:
The Association statute was not well accepted among many of the lodges, because the more numerous, though less active, Prussian great lodges have secured to themselves the leadership, and have pushed aside the “Association of German Freemasons” that was formerly very active, thus disadvantaging the Jews in Masonry.
Note: The German title of this weekly Archdiocesan newspaper changed from 1918 to 1919. In 1918, the title was Wochenblatt für die katholischen Pfarrgemeinden Münchens, or “Weekly Paper for the Catholic Parish Communities of Munich.” Beginning in 1919, the title became Münchener katholische Kirchenzeitung, or “Munich Catholic Church Newspaper,” with the subtitle of “Wochenblatt für die katholischen Pfarrgemeinden Münchens.”
Feb. 3, 1918 The Munich Archdiocesan newspaper’s article warning about the influence of Freemasonry in Germany includes this passage:
... the three old-Prussian Great Lodges are “Christian” oriented (as opposed to “humanistic”), because Jews are not admitted to them as members).
February 1918 Hochland article, “Das Problem der Revolution,” by Ignaz Seipel:
Es ist ein merkwürdiges Schauspiel, die Vertreter der monarchischen Mittelmächte mit den Delegierten der russischen Revolution bei den Friedensverhandlungen zu sehen. Insbesondere Oesterreich fühlte sich in vergangenen Zeiten als der Hort der Legitimität. Für einen Metternich z. B. wäre es undenkbar gewesen, eine Revolutionsregierung in irgendeiner Weise anzuerkennen. Hat ihn doch mit die Furcht, gegen das Legitimitätsprinzip zu verstoßen, sogar veranlaßt, fast allein in ganz Europa sich dem griechischen Befreiungskampfe gegenüber ablehnend zu verhalten. Sein Nachfolger aber behandelt die Abgesandten der Petersburger Volkskommissare ganz als vollwertige Vertreter einer fremden Macht. Diesen Umschwung nur mit der Opportunität zu erklären oder damit zu begründen, daß eben seitdem das neue Prinzip der Nichteinmischung in die inneren Verhältnisse fremder Staaten zur Herrschaft gekommen sei, genügt tiefer angelegten Menschen nicht. Jenen, die an die Existenz unveränderlicher sittlicher Normen glauben und von deren Zuständigkeit auch für das öffentliche Leben überzeugt sind, drängt sich unwillkürlich die Frage auf, ob wir denn eine Revolution unter allen Umständen als einen Verstoß gegen die sittliche Weltordnung betrachten müssen oder ob wir sie in diesem oder jenem Falle doch als berechtigt anerkennen dürfen.
Wir sind längst gewöhnt, uns in solchen Fragen zuerst an die Vergangenheit zu wenden, bevor wir selbst ein Urteil abzugeben wagen. Viel Material, das uns für diesen Zweck gute Dienste leisten kann, hat der Professor für Geschichte an der Frankfurter Universität Fritz Kern in seinem Buche ,Gottesgnadentum und Widerstandsrecht im früheren Mittelalter’ verarbeitet, das, schon vor dem Kriege geschrieben, 1915 erschienen ist. Die Beschränkung auf das frühere Mittelalter schloß doch lehrreiche Ausblicke auf das Altertum und die neuere Zeit nicht aus, so daß man mit Hilfe dieses Buches die ganze Linie der Entwicklung bereits überschauen kann. Es muß bemerkt werden, daß Kern noch nichts ganz Abgeschlossenes bietet. Er selbst weist wiederholt darauf hin, daß an dieser oder jener Stelle noch tiefer gegraben werden muß, als es ihm bisher vergönnt war. Vielleicht ist diesem Umstände auch eine gewisse Ungleichmäßigkeit in der Beurteilung der auf den Ausgleich zwischen Gottesgnadentum und Widerstandsrecht gerichteten Bestrebungen zuzuschreiben. Diese Ungleichmäßigkeit macht sich einige Male gerade gegenüber der katholischen Kirche bemerkbar. Kern zeigt eine Neigung, über die Kirche rascher als über andere Faktoren ein Verdikt auszusprechen und ihren Vertretern unsachliche Motive unterzuschieben, wenn es ihr nicht immer gelang, in einer so schwierigen Materie jene Mittellinie einzuhalten, die, von unserem heutigen Standpunkt aus betrachtet, als die richtige erscheinen mag. Doch da es uns hier nicht um eine Buchbesprechung im gewöhnlichen Sinne des Wortes, die wir den Fachorganen überlassen müssen, zu tun ist, soll hierauf nicht näher eingegangen werden. Wir wollen viel mehr versuchen, unter gelegentlicher Ergänzung und Korrektur des von Kern bereitgestellten Materials in kurzen Zügen die Stellungnahme der Kirche zum Revolutionsproblem zu zeichnen, um dann einige feste Richtlinien für die moralische Beurteilung der Revolution zu gewinnen.
Der Hauptgrundsatz, von dem sich die Kirche in ihrer Stellung zur Staatsgewalt leiten ließ, war jederzeit das paulinische Wort: ,Es gibt keine Gewalt außer von Gott; die aber, welche bestehen, sind von Gott gesetzt’ (Rom. 13, 1). In diesem Satze spricht sich zunächst die Überzeugung aus, daß die Menschen nach Gottes Willen unter Obrigkeiten leben müssen, und zwar ist, wie der Hinweis auf den Blutbann im folgenden Vers 4 und auf die Abgaben und Zölle in Vers 7 zur Genüge andeutet, von weltlichen Obrigkeiten die Rede. Es liegt in diesem Satze ferner ein tiefer Glaube an das Walten der göttlichen Vorsehung, die gerade diesen oder jenen Menschen in den Besitz der obrigkeitlichen Gewalt eingeführt hat. Für den Inhaber der Gewalt bedeutet diese ein Amt, nicht ein privat- rechtliches Eigentum, ein Unterschied, der übrigens nach der christlichen Auffassung nicht viel ausmacht, da ihr ja auch das Eigentum stets nur anvertraute, Gut ist, für dessen Verwaltung der Mensch vor Gott Rechenschaft legen muß. Der Untertan ist der Obrigkeit Unterwerfung schuldig, und zwar, wie im Vers 5 in aller Deutlichkeit hinzugefügt wird, nicht nur um der Strafe willen, sondern auch des Gewissens wegen. Auflehnung, Widersetzlichkeit verträgt sich mit dieser Anschauung von der obrigkeitlichen Gewalt nicht; denn wer sich gegen sie auflehnt, .widersetzt sich der Anordnung Gottes (Vers 2). Über die Regierungsform und über den Weg, wie jemand auf rechtmäßige Weise in den Besitz der obrigkeitlichen Gewalt kommt, hat der hl. Paulus nichts gesagt und nichts sagen wollen. Das ergibt sich schon daraus, daß er ganz allgemein von der Obrigkeit redet, nicht etwa nur vom obersten Träger der Staatsgewalt. Im Gegenteil, für seine Leser hatte die Frage, wie sie sich einem Prokurator oder Proprätor gegenüber stellen sollten, viel größere Bedeutung als die nach dem Kaiser, mit dem sie persönlich kaum je zu tun hatten. Nun kam damals wie jetzt ein Beamter auf ganz andere Weise zu seiner Gewalt als der Kaiser. Der hl. Paulus aber macht keinen Unterschied. Es wäre falsch, wenn man daraus den Schluß zöge, daß die Kirche sich auch in alle Zukunft nie um die Legitimität einer Obrigkeit kümmern sollte, oder daß sie das evangelische Ideal verlassen habe, wenn sie es einmal tat. Man muß nur bedenken, zu welcher Zeit und für welche Leser der hl. Paulus schrieb. Die Christen waren sämtlich Untertanen; der Herrscher und die höheren Beamten waren nicht unter ihnen. Es wäre ganz gegen den Geist einer vernünftigen Seelsorge gewesen, den Christen von jemals zu erklären, wie sie sich verhalten müßten, wenn der Kaiser Christ geworden wäre und der Staat nach christlichen Grundsätzen eingerichtet mdcn könnte. Wer derartiges in der Heiligen Schrift sucht oder, weil es nicht darin findet, der Kirche verwehren möchte, später zu neuen Verhältnissen eine neue Stellung einzunehmen, verkennt ganz und gar das Kern und die Eigenart der Heiligen Schrift. Diese war ja nicht dazu bestimmt, in einem Kasten verschlossen zu werden, damit man sie später inmal herausnehme, um daraus ein Orakel zu schöpfen, sondern sie harte mittelbar dem praktischen Gebrauche zu dienen. So schrieb auch der hl. Paulus seinen Römerbrief, damit er sofort von den Römern, d. h. römischen Christen seiner Zeit, gelesen würde. Er hatte nichts bälgen, daß die Römer den für sie bestimmten Brief auch an andere Christen itcrgaben und dafür, die Briefe eintauschten, die er an andere Gemeinden geschrieben hatte. Er erwartete eben, daß die Christen schon selbst so sein würden, die Anwendungen auf ihre Verhältnisse zu machen. In selben Weise ist uns Späteren die ganze Heilige Schrift anvertraut, sie gibt uns ewige Weisheitslehren im Gewände jener Zeit, in der sie rundgeschrieben wurden. Aus ihnen Winke zu entnehmen, die für uns sktisch sind, ist unsere Sache. Und dazu, daß wir bei diesem Streben, die Wiche Lehre und das christliche Gesetz für uns auszuschöpfen, nicht nen, haben wir die lebendige Autorität der Kirche, die uns, vom Heiligen leiste geleitet, unfehlbar den Sinn der christlichen Lehren und Gebote deuten kann.
So erklärt es sich ganz ungezwungen, daß die Kirche in den ersten Jahrhunderten nach der Legitimität der Herrscher so gut wie gar echt fragte. Solange diese heidnisch waren, hatte die Kirche an ihnen keine Seelsorge zu üben. Für die Christen aber genügte es vollständig, denn sie wußten, daß sie der Obrigkeit gehorchen mußten. Der Gefahr, daß dieser Gehorsam zu einem unsinnigen und unsittlichen würde, war durch das Beispiel und die Lehre des anderen Apostelfürsten hinreichend Sebeugt, von dem die Christen den Spruch gelernt hatten: ,Man muß Gott mehr gehorchen als den Menschen' (Apg. 5, 29). Anders wurde die der Kirche, als der Kaiser selbst Christ und die christliche Religion allmählich Staatsreligion geworden war. Nun unterstand der Kaiser der schlichen Seelsorge wie jeder andere Christ und ,ratione peccati’, um den Terminus des alten und neuen Rechtes zu gebrauchen, auch ihrer Rechtsprechung. Für ihn war es aber die erste Gewissensfrage, ob er rechtmäßiger Herrscher sei oder nicht. Trotzdem konnte die Kirche mich °«nals Staatsumwälzungen verhältnismäßig ruhig nn'tansehen und zu Usurpatoren bald in «in freundliches Verhältnis treten. Dazu bot das heimische Staatsrecht die Handhabe. Im ganzen Altertum, auch in der Kaiserzeit, bestand, wenigstens als Fiktion, der Glaube an die Volks-[546] souveränität zu Recht. Die primitive Demokratie der Komitien, der versammelten Stadtgemeinde, hatte sich freilich überlebt. Aber sowohl das Volk in Waffen, das Heer, als seine ideale Repräsentanz, der Sendung konnten die oberste Gewalt im Staate ausüben und übertragen. Wer daher das römische Heer oder, da es keine einschränkenden Normen gab, ein römisches Heer seinen Feldherrn zum Imperator ausrief, oder wen der Senat einen Heerführer als Imperator grüßte, so war er Imperator, auch wenn es einen anderen Imperator schon gab, und er konnte daher gegen diesen zu den Waffen greifen. Freilich war das Heer, das in der spat Kaiserzeit die Imperatoren machte, nicht das römische Volk in Waffen, sondern ein Söldnerheer, meistens waren es die Prätorianer allein, also genau unterschied man nicht. In der allgemeinen Auffassung war Heer eben Heer und Imperator Imperator. Die Feinheit, dasselbe Wort einmal mit Feldherr, das andere Mal mit Kaiser zu übersetzen, ist eine Erfindung moderner Philologie. So waren die vielen Thronstürze im west- und oströmischen Reiche faktisch zwar Revolutionen, juristisch aber eigentlich nur Bürgerkriege zwischen gleichberechtigten Thronbewerbern. Der Erfolg entschied allein über die Rechtmäßigkeit. Die Kirche gewöhnte sich gerade in ihrem Glauben an die göttliche Vorsehung, früh, im Waffe, erfolg ein Gottesurteil zu sehen. War aber ein Herrscher im ruhigen Bestand der Gewalt, dann galt auch von ihm das Wort der Schrift: Es gibt keine Gewalt außer von Gott.
Als die Germanen ins Römische Reich einrückten und nach und nach auch in die Kirche Eingang fanden, brachten sie ihre Verfassungen, wen man dieses Wort auf jene ursprünglichen Rechtsverhältnisse anwenden darf schon mit. Das Königtum der Germanen war etwas anderes als eim römischer Magistrat. Große Bedeutung hatte bei ihnen von Anfang das Geblütsrecht. Da aber vom Herrscher außer dem königlichen Geblüt auch persönliche Eignung für die Heerführung und das Richteramt gefordert wurde, so war, wie Kern überzeugend nachwies, doch auch immer eine Art Wahl, sei es durch die Landgemeinde der Freien, sei es durch die Fürsten, die später die Stelle des Volkes zu vertreten pflegten, notwendig um einem bestimmten Anwärter auf die Krone ein jus in re zu vermitteln wenn einmal oder mehrere Male das Geblütsrecht beiseite gesetzt worden oder gar wenn keine eingelebte Dynastie mehr vorhanden war, mußte das Wahlrecht immer mehr in den Vordergrund treten. Es ist ganz natürlich, daß die Fürsten, die so einen Machtzuwachs erhalten hatten, daraus bedacht waren, nicht wieder eine Dynastie mit regelrechter Erbfolge auf kommen zu lassen. Die gewaltsamen Staatsumwälzungen in den germanischen Staaten sind fast alle auf den Dualismus zwischen Geblütsrecht und persönlicher Eignung als Kriterien der Legitimität zurückzuführen. Ein förmliches Absetzungsrecht gab es nicht. Aber es war, und das scheint mir Kern nicht genügend erkannt zu haben, ähnlich wie beim römischen Imperium. Die Wähler, oder wie man sonst jene nennen mag, denen [547] es zustand, einen neuen König zu berufen, machten von diesen, ihrem Rechte mitunter auch Gebrauch, solange der alte König noch am Leben und im Amte war. Es gab kein Gesetz, das die Königswahl nur auf den Fall der Sedisvakanz beschränkte oder wenigstens keines, daß sie außer diesem Falle für null und nichtig erklärte. Dieser Umstand wurde lange Zeit hindurch gerade im Interesse der dynastischen Erbfolge aus genutzt, indem der König noch bei seinen Lebzeiten seinen Sohn wählen und krönen ließ. Geschah Ähnliches gegen den Willen des alten Königs, so gab es dann rechtlich zwei Könige, die genau so wie zwei römische Imperatoren das Waffenglück zwischen sich entscheiden ließen. Die Absicht der Kirche ging nun dahin, die Regierungsverhältnisse, die vielfach hochst ungeordnet waren - folgte doch in manchen Staaten eine blutige Palastrevolution der anderen - , zu konsolidieren. Sie erreichte dies durch drei Mittel: einmal entschied sie im Konfliktsfall mit Vorliebe für die persönlich Nichtigkeit gegenüber dem bloßen Geblütsrechte — das entsprach ganz und gar der christlichen Auffassung vom Königtum als einem Amt, nicht einem privaten Familienbesitz — ; dann gab sie dem einmal ordnungsgemäß bestellten Herrscher eine höhere Weihe durch die kirchliche Salbung und Krönung — in der ersten Zeit und in den Ländern, wo ein erhöhter Schutz der königlichen Person besonders notwendig erschien, auch durch förmliche Aufnahme in den geistlichen Stand — und drittens trachtete sie an Stelle der formlosen Verlassung des Herrschers und der stets zum blutigen Bürgerkrieg führenden Wahl eines Gegenkönigs das geordnete kanonische Rechtsverfahren zu setzen, wenn wirklich einmal die Beseitigung eines ungeeigneten Herrschers notwendig wurde, sie konnte dies um so leichter, als Fürsten oder Volk die Absetzung eines Herrschers ja fast stets nur wegen moralischer Vergehen forderten, gegen welche die Kirche mit ihren Zensuren einschreiten konnte. Wer aber den kirchlichen Zensuren verfallen war, konnte damals tatsächlich nicht länger regieren. Gewiß waren sich die kirchlichen Persönlichkeiten nicht immer dieser Richtung, die das Verfassungsleben nahm, bewußt; gewiß mochte im einzelnen Fall mit anderen, unzutreffenden Argumenten die Vorherrschaft der Kirche begründet werden, oder ein Bischof oder Papst auch direkt von Herrschsucht geleitet sein; aber den Vorwurf, daß die Kirche planmäßig die Monarchie geschwächt habe, darf man ihr nicht machen. Das Gegenteil ist richtig. Es scheint höchstens anders, wenn man Geblütsrecht, Volkswahl und religiöse Weihe isoliert betrachtet. Sicher hätte jedes einzelne dieser drei Momente für sich allein die Monarchie ein eitlicher und dauerhafter begründet. Sie waren aber nun einmal nur alle zusammen im Widerspiele wirksam, und da hat die Kirche alles getan, um das Ausspielen des einen gegen das andere ungefährlicher zu machen. Daß sie dabei nicht so weit ging, einen zäsarpapistischen Absolutismus zu fördern, war sie sich selbst und auch den Untertanen, die von ihr Schutz gegen Unterdrückung erwarteten, schuldig.
Gerade hierin traf sich aber die Kirche wieder mit der germanischen Rechtsanschauung, der zufolge das Verhältnis der Untertanen zum Herrscher nicht eigentlich ein Gehorsams-, sondern ein Treuverhältnis ist. Zwischen Gehorsam und Treue ist ein großer Unterschied. Gehorsam kann und muß auch der Obrigkeit geleistet werden, die Unrecht tut, wenn auch vielleicht nicht gerade in dem, worin sie Unrecht tut, aber in allen anderen Beziehungen. Wo hingegen ein Treuverhältnis obwaltet, ist es anders. Wer selbst die Treue bricht, verwirkt damit das Recht, daß ihm der andere Treue halte. Den schärfsten Ausdruck hat diese Anschauung unter der Herrschaft des Lehenssystems gefunden. Lehensherr und Lehensmann konnten ja unter gewissen Umständen sich gegenseitig aufsagen, d. h. die Treue kündigen. War dies geschehen, dann konnte der Lehensmann sich einem anderen Herrn, vielleicht dem Gegenkönig, anschließen, ohne daß er dadurch Hochverräter wurde. Aus derselben Wurzel sind gewisse verfassungsmäßige Bestimmungen entsprossen, die den Untertanen das förmliche Recht gewährten, dem Herrscher im Falle seines Treubruches mit bewaffneter Hand entgegenzutreten oder, mittelalterlich ausgedrückt, ein bellum justum gegen ihn zu führen. Ein solches Recht hat schon Karl der Kahle 856 zugestanden. Die berühmtesten Beispiele find aber das Widerstandsrecht der englischen Barone, das ihnen die Magna Charta von 1215 einräumte, das Insurrektionsrecht der Ungarn, das im Artikel 31 der goldenen Bulle Andreas III. von 1222 ausdrücklich verbrieft und erst 1687 wieder beseitigt wurde, und das aragonesische Unionsrecht von Weihnachten 1287, das bis 1298 in Geltung blieb. Der Papst hat zwar gegen die Magna Charta protestiert, aber nur, weil sie sein kurz zuvor begründetes Oberlehensrecht über England verletzte.
Zur Ausbildung einer eigentlichen christlichen Staatstheorie kam es erst, seitdem das Mittelalter mit der aristotelischen Politik bekannt geworden war. Von Aristoteles übernahmen die Theologen u. a. zwei wichtige Anschauungen: die Vorliebe für die Monarchie, aber mit starker Betonung der Tüchtigkeit des Herrschers, hinter die das Vorrecht des Geblütes weit zurücktreten muß, und die sogenannte Tyrannus-Lehre, d. h. die Lehre, daß der Herrscher, der schlecht regiert, aufhört, König zu sein und statt dessen Tyrann wird. In diesem Sinne allein gebraucht der hl. Thomas von Aquin im engsten Anschluß an Aristoteles den Ausdruck Tyrann. Die Späteren unterschieden den Usurpator, den sie tyrannus tituli nannten, vom an sich rechtmäßigen, aber durch den Mißbrauch seiner Gewalt zum Tyrannen gewordenen Herrscher, tyrannus regiminis. Gegen den Usurpator war nach der Ansicht aller offener Widerstand zulässig, solange er nicht im ruhigen Besitz der höchsten Macht war. Bezüglich des Tyrannen im engeren Sinne blieb die Meinung geteilt. Manche Theologen, in späterer Zeit auch viele Protestanten, hielten sogar den Tyrannenmord für erlaubt. Dagegen sprach sich mit [549] aller Entschiedenheit das Konzil von Konstanz 1415 aus.* Aber auch die anderen, die nicht so weit gingen, hielten doch meist an der Meinung fest, daß das Volk in äußerster Bedrückung dem Tyrannen den Krieg erklären dürfe. Es ist bezeichnend, daß diese Kontroversen gerade so lange im Schwange blieben, als die vielen großen und kleinen Tyrannen der Renaissance ihr Unwesen trieben.
Nach und nach festigten sich jedoch die Herrschaftsverhältnisse. Usurpatoren war das Aufkommen erschwert. Der Ständestaat bot ziemlich ausreichende Sicherungen dagegen, daß eine rechtmäßige Regierung in Tyrannis ausarte. Der Absolutismus, der offen oder mehr versteckt ihn ablöste, war stark genug, um lange Zeit fast jeden Gedanken an offenen Widerstand niederzuhalten. Damals kehrte die Theologie der Schule, die auch stark unter dem Einfluß der herrschenden Zeitströmung stand, wieder mehr zur bloßen Betonung der Gehorsamspflicht zurück. Das Ventil der Notwehr gegen einen unerträglichen Druck blieb ja immer offen; aber man sprach nicht viel davon. Die Revolutionen der jüngsten Geschichtsperiode, die den Absolutismus beseitigten, wurden als unabänderliche Tatsachen entgegengenommen. Die blutigen Greuel und die religionsfeindlichen Strömungen, die mit ihnen verbunden zu sein pflegten, mußten die Abneigung, sie auf eine etwaige moralische Berechtigung hin zu untersuchen, nur verstärken. Der Syllabus Pius’ IX. vom Jahre 1864 verwirft den Satz: Den rechtmäßigen Fürsten den Gehorsam zu verweigern, ja sich gegen sie zu empören, ist erlaubt.** Der neue Codex Juris Canonici verbietet den Geistlichen die aktive Beteiligung an Staatsumwälungen (Can. 141 § 1).
Suchen wir nun nach dieser historischen Betrachtung in positiver Form die Grundsätze für die moralische Beurteilung der Revolution zusammenzustellen: Ein Recht der Untertanen, nach Willkür die Regierungsform des Staates zu ändern, oder den Herrscher, der nicht nur als eine Art Magistrat für eine bestimmte Zeit bestellt wurde, zu wechseln, gibt es nicht, und zwar auch dann nicht, wenn die Verfassung des betreffenden Staates die Volkssouveränität festsetzt und das Volk selbst den Herrscher gewählt hat. Denn ein solcher willkürlicher Regierungswechsel wäre auf jeden Fall gegen das Gemeinwohl. Aber auch, wenn die Untertanen Grund haben, mit der Regierung ihres Herrschers unzufrieden zu sein, und wenn sich selbst schwerwiegende moralische Vergehen zuschulden kommen ließ, kann ihn das Volk nicht dafür zur Verantwortung ziehen, es sei denn, daß die Verfassung ein solches Recht ausdrücklich anerkennt und ein Verfahren für diesen Fall bestimmt.***
* Denzinger-Bannwarr, Enchiridion symbolorum 12 n. 690.
** Denzinger-Bannwart, 12 n. 1763.
*** Das Konzil von Konstanz verwirft nur den Satz: Populares possunt ad 5»um suum arbitrium dominos delinquentes corrigere. Denzinger-Bannwart, 12, 596.
Eine andere Frage ist es, ob ein Herrscher, der offenkundig schlecht regiert und vielleicht durch unmoralisches Verhalten seine persönliche Ehre befleckt hat, noch die geeignete Persönlichkeit ist, den Staat zu leiten, und ob es daher nicht etwa seine Pflicht wäre, im Interesse des Gemeinwohls abzudanken. Gegen das Gemeinwohl, aus Gründen des Privatinteresses die oberste Gewalt festzuhalten, wäre sicher unrecht. Freilich wird es im einzelnen Fall nicht leicht sein, festzustellen, was mehr im Interesse des Gemeinwohls liegt. Denn auch ein mehr oder weniger freiwilliger Rücktritt des Herrschers, der damit eine Schuld eingesteht, bat seine Nachteile, insofern er das Vertrauen der Untertanen auf die Autorität schwächt. Wäre die moralische Schuld des Herrschers und im Zusammenhange damit die Minderung seines Ansehens so bedeutend, daß daraus eine förmliche Regierungsunfähigkeit hervorginge, zeigten sich unzweifelhaft die üblen Nachwirkungen auf das Gemeinwesen in einer immer größeren Zerrüttung, dann könnten das Volk oder seine verfassungsmäßigen Repräsentanten wohl den Rücktritt des unfähigen Herrschers verlangen und selbst erzwingen; denn dann wäre der Staat in der Notwehr. Das Volk braucht gewiß nicht sich und sein Gemeinwesen dem Untergang entgegen treiben zu lassen, weil gerade ein unfähiger Herrscher an seiner Spitze steht. Was eben über die moralische Regierungsunfähigkeit gesagt wurde, gilt natürlich auch von der physischen infolge von Krankheit u. dgl., nur daß hier leichter durch Kuratel und Regentschaft vorgesagt werden kann. Ob diese oder ein Thronwechsel vorzuziehen ist, wird rein vom Standpunkt des Gemeinwohls zu entscheiden sein. An sich ist es sicher entsprechender, ,daß derjenige, der die Macht des Königs hat, auch den königlichen Namen führe, wie sich Papst Zacharias gelegentlich der pipinischen Revolution äußerte. Immerhin könnte aber die Thronentsetzung des physisch unfähigen Herrschers einmal als solche Erschütterung der Legitimität erscheinen, daß man lieber zu anderen Mitteln, die Staatsgewalt in fähigere Hände zu legen, greifen mag. In der Notwehr gegenüber dem legitimen Herrscher könnte auch der einzelne Untertan oder eine Gruppe von Untertanen sein. Denn auch gegen den Herrscher kann jedermann seine wesentlichen Lebensgüter mit allen zulässigen Mitteln verteidigen, und zu diesen Mitteln gehört die Abwehr der Gewalt mit Gewalt. Hier müssen aber nicht nur die allgemeinen Schranken der berechtigten Notwehr eingehalten werden, sondern es ergeben sich neue aus der notwendigen Rücksicht auf das Gemeinwohl. Schon der hl. Thomas hat darauf hingewiesen, daß selbst die ganze Kommunität auf ihr Notwehrrecht verzichten müßte, wenn zu befürchten wäre, daß aus dessen Ausübung schwere öffentliche Unruhe, also eine ernste Schädigung der Gesamtheit, hervorginge.* In den Fällen, in denen den einzelnen die Nottvehr gegen den Herrscher gestattet ist, können sich gewiß auch mehrere oder viele, die in der gleichen Lage sind, miteinander verbinden, um die Abwehr ungerechter Angriffe wirksamer zu gestalten.
* Summa theol. 2. 2. q. 42 a. 2 ad 3.
Wir haben bisher immer nur vom Widerstand gegen die Person des Herrschers gesprochen. Aber wäre es nicht auch möglich, daß das ganze System, die Regierungsform selbst, sich als völlig ungeeignet erwiese, den Bedürfnissen des Staates und der Untertanen zu genügen? Gewiß. Ist es so, dann muß zunächst auf verfassungsmäßigem Wege oder, wenn in solcher nicht vorgesehen ist, durch Verhandlungen mit dem Herrscher in Systemwechsel angestrebt werden. Führt dieser Weg nicht zum Ziele, dann ist das Volk wieder in der Notwehr und kann sich in der Not hindurch helfen, daß es selbst andere, zweckmäßige Staatseinrichtungen schafft. Fügen sich der Herrscher und die bisherige Regierungsform in diese nicht ein, dann kann das Volk die besseren neuen Einrichtungen gegen sie verteidigen, und zwar, wenn es anders nicht geht, auch mit Gewalt.
In Rußland ist der politischen Revolution die soziale gefolgt, d. h. starke Gruppen im russischen Volke behaupten, der Staat könne nur gesunden, wenn mit dem Regierungswechsel gleichzeitig eine Neuordnung der ganzen Struktur der Bevölkerung und insbesondere der Eigentumsverhältnisse erfolge. Kann man zugunsten der politischen Revolution sagen, daß niemand, auch der Herrscher nicht, ein Privatrecht am Staate habe, so setzt sich die soziale Revolution doch ganz offenbar auch mit wohlerworbenen Privatrechten in Widerspruch. Zur vollständigen Ausübung alles Privateigentums dürfte daher bei einer sozialen Revolution niemals fortgeschritten werden. Wohl aber könnte eine bessere Grundlage der Volkswirtschaft durch Neuverteilung des bisherigen Gemeindeeigentums, der Staats- und Krondomänen und des auf Grund der bestehenden Gesetze rechtsgültig eingezogenen Privateigentums geschaffen werden. Reichen diese Maßregeln nicht aus, so daß es unbedingt notwendig erscheint, im Interesse des Gemeinwohls, nämlich um den Staat wieder zu einem normalen und ruhigen Leben zurückzuführen, auch das Privateigentum in stärkerem Maße als sonst heranzuziehen, dann ist dafür der Weg der gesetzlich aufzuerlegenden Abgaben gangbar. Wie Geldabgaben so können gewiß auch Abgaben in Naturalien oder in Grund und Boden verlangt werden. Das zulässige Maß ist rein durch die Notwendigkeit bestimmt. Unrecht wäre es, einer Doktrin zuliebe weiterzugehen, als es die strenge Notwendig keit erfordert.
Über einzelne tatsächlich vorgekommene Revolutionen, sei es aus alter, sei es aus neuer Zeit, ein Urteil abzugeben, liegt außerhalb des Rahmens dieser kleinen Studie. Im allgemeinen wird man sagen müssen, daß es sicher Fälle gegeben hat, in denen eine Staatsumwälzung durchaus berechtigt war; wir denken dabei an die bereits einmal genannte pipinische Revolution. Ebenso sicher ist es, daß meistens nicht so bedacht vorgegangen wurde wie damals, daß viel unedle Leidenschaft und insbesondere auch viele verkehrte Doktrinen die Staatsnotwendigkeit oder die Notwehr zum bloßen Vorwande nahmen, um Staatsumwälzungen zu rechtfertigen. Dennoch werden wohl auch in diesem Falle viele im guten Glauben sich an revolutionären Unternehmungen beteiligt haben, so daß es nicht angeht, sie samt und sonders moralisch zu verurteilen. Die Schwierigkeit aber, über eine bestimmte Revolution ein sicheres Urteil abzugeben, rechtfertigt hinlänglich, wenn Fernerstehende, darunter auch die Regierungen und öffentliche Meinung in auswärtigen Staaten, sich hüten, jedesmal für alte Regierung gegen die neue Partei zu ergreifen. Sicher ist das eine, auch aus einer verwerflichen Revolution eine neue legitime Regierung hervorgehen kann, die ihre Legitimität daraus schöpft, daß der Staat nie ohne Regierung bleiben darf, daß aber eine andere Regierung, die die Staatsgewalt ausüben könnte, nicht mehr da ist als eben die revolutionäre. Wenn daher die Kirche und fremde Staaten eine Revolutionsregierung anerkennen, sobald sie tatsächlich im gefestigten Besitz der obersten Gewalt ist, so ist weder Prinzipienschwäche noch bloße Opportunitätspolitik.
Citation: Ignaz Seipel, Das Problem der Revolution, Hochland 15:1:5 (Feb. 1918), S. 543
March 27, 1918 Memorandum from Matthias Erzberger:
Title: The recognition of Lithuania as a free and independent state by the German Government... The Lithuanians have been a minority for centuries and have suffered so much that they will certainly guarantee all minorities, including Polish and Israelite ones, the full development of their economic powers and their intellectual qualities, all the more as the development of these minorities with their multiform talent can only be of great usefulness to the still infant Lithuanian State...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition, Document No. 9014.
April 6, 1918 Schioppa to Gasparri:
Most Reverend Eminence,I received from a reliable source, and carry out my duty to transmit to Your Most Reverend Eminence, the following information about the current domestic situation in Russia.
The Bolsheviks are forming a new army of revolutionary elements, as they have not lost hope of bringing revolution into the Central Powers, and would not hesitate for a moment, despite the accepted peace treaty, to advance with these new forces against the same Central Powers.
The Heads of all the Ministries are Jews. Only the less important posts are occupied by workers of intelligence and good will. For these workers, however, young Jewish lasses are placed alongside to dominate them and make them work in conformity with the Government. The girlfriend of a Minister told a secret agent that the Russian Revolution is primarily the work of the Jews and that it is founded on the idea of a worldwide Jewish government. The Russian Secretary of Foreign Affairs explained to this same Secret Agent that it is easier to attract the Russian people to the revolutionary idea: Germany and Austria present greater difficulties, but the matter is most difficult in France, since it is easier to overturn a monarchy than a Republic. The same Secretary added that the Alliance Israélite would succeed in this Jewish revolutionary goal, while the Zionists are said to be opposed, because they have other ideas.
The Bolshevik Government is not in danger. It has assumed more moderate manners and, moreover, the bourgeois are without power, and the peasants do nothing against the Government.
Humbly bowing to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Lorenzo Schioppa
Chargé d’Affaires
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2152.
May 1918 Hochland article, “Der russische Mensch,” by Karl Pfleger:
[p.130]... die spezifische russische Religiosität ist Rettung und Heil... mystisch genährte Überzeugung Dostojewskijs ... In der strengsten und möglichst reinen Orthodoxie, verbunden mit hermetischem Abschluß vom ,durchfaulten Westen’, sieht er die einzige Rettung Rußlands und durch Rußlands Vermittlung die Rettung der Welt. Rußland hat eine messianische Weltmission.Hier wohnen wir der Geburt des Panslawismus aus der national überspannten Orthodoxie bei...
[131] ...
Citation: Karl Pfleger, “Der russische Mensch,” Hochland 15:2:2 (May 1918), S. 125
June 1, 1918 Gasparri to Pacelli:
Most Illustrious Signore,To avoid journalistic polemics to which my letter to His Eminence Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster, could give rise, I believe it opportune to clarify the meaning, which was abundantly evident in itself, of my words.
Before anything else I must recall that the Times of London published a letter in which the following words were attributed to me: “While there would be reason to give thanks that the Holy City has been redeemed from infidels, it is to be lamented that the liberation has been accomplished by a Power that does not have the true faith.” Having never said anything like this, I sent a telegram of protest and denial to Eminence Bourne, followed up then by the well-known letter saying that England, in preference to the other Powers, would give assurance of impartiality, respect for established rights, and improvement of the Holy Places.
My thought in the referenced words is the following: England gives greater confidence than all those Governments that newspapers, men of state, or agreements have indicated as possible candidates, whether alone or in combination with others, as the eventual successor to Turkey in Palestine. Who are those Governments?
Among the secret documents published in Petersburg there is a signed agreement of March 6, 1917 which says that to assure the religious interests of the Allied countries, Palestine with the Holy Places will be placed under a special regime in conformity with an accord among Russia, France and England. In the same agreement is proposed the establishment of an independent Arab kingdom, and some have dropped the name of Jerusalem as the capital. It is also well known that important men of state have shown their favor for the reconstitution of the Jewish kingdom. Now neither Russia nor an Arab or Jewish kingdom gives any assurance of religious freedom, of respect for established rights, of improvement. It has likewise been affirmed that Palestine would be governed by an international commission composed of Representatives of England, France, Russia, Italy and perhaps also other nations; now apart from the most serious drawbacks that such a mixed regime would present, apart from the fears that the presence of Russia would engender, the Holy See would really not look favorably upon the presence of Italy, since its current distressing situation would prevent it from having the frequent interactions with the Italian government that would thereby be necessary. Finally France, in a threatening pro-memoria reaching the Holy See by indirect paths, says that with the end of the French protectorate in the Middle East, “The Government of the Republic having no longer any interest in defending the privileges in which it will no longer henceforth have any part, will be able eventually to be led to fix anew the objects of its policy in the Middle East and consequently allow the triumph of the demands formulated by the Greeks or the Armenians”; now, since the French protectorate in the Middle East, with the end of the Turkish domination, will automatically pass away as a matter of law, by the very nature of things, without any act by the Holy See, it follows that, having to take account of these threats, the Holy See would have to prefer the domination by England alone.
This and nothing else is the meaning of my words. Your Excellency shall communicate this to His Excellency the Chancellor and arrange that all polemics about this be avoided in the press.
With sentiments of sincere and distinct esteem ...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2995.
June 4, 1918 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Re: Report about profanation of tombs and churches – News about PalestineMost Reverend Eminence,
Mr. von Bergen of the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, with file No. 29529/78191 of this May 31st charges me to transmit to the Holy See the here-enclosed report about “Profanation of tombs and churches committed by the French and the English – with 31 original photographs.”
He communicates to me at the same time that, according to reports reaching Berlin, England has conceived a plan to establish itself in Palestine with the help of Zionism; that in Cairo, an English Zionist Commission of Study has been meeting for some time, in which French Israelites also are said to be taking part, to examine the situation on the spot. It is said that another Commission, composed of American and Italian Israelites, will soon leave for Palestine...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 3049.
June 24, 1918 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Re: Concerning recommendations in favor of Italian prisoners of warFollowing up my respectful Report No. 7266 dated June 17th, I have the honor to transcribe for Your Most Reverend Eminence the here-enclosed excerpt, translated from the German, of the following letter that reached me today from the priest Aloys Beckmann, Military Chaplain at Cellelager [prisoner-of-war camp near Celle in northern Germany], to whom I have turned in several cases for news and recommendations about Italian prisoners of war interned there.
“The Camp Commandant has received, especially in recent days, via Your Excellency, numerous recommendations in favor of Italian officers who are prisoners of war, in part also with the petition to inquire whether they could be considered for an exchange. The last of these came indeed from the Holy Father himself. However, I am constrained to communicate to Your Excellency that the recommended officers, in great part – not to say a majority – are not worthy of the special concern of His Holiness or Your Excellency. That goes also for the officers who have been recommended to me personally as the Camp Chaplain. Repeatedly I have had to attest that they were unbelievers and not only were not frequenting church services, but were trying moreover to exercise a bad influence on their companions. Among the prisoners recently recommended to the Command are a large number of Jews, atheists, men openly hostile to religion, and indeed a considerable portion of them have venereal diseases. These latter cannot be considered for an exchange. These recommendations in favor of such persons have given rise to strong disapproval and discontent among the good Catholic Italian officers...”
I replied to the excellent and zealous Chaplain in similar terms to those I already used with the aforementioned Dr. Rolshoven (cf. encrypted cable Report No. 7266); moreover, I asked him to indicate to me the names of the good officers, to whom he alludes, so that I can recommend them also, adding indeed that, if any of them have need of monetary help (not being, however, in a position, under the present local circumstances, to send food or articles of clothing), I am ready to provide it to them.
In the hope that I have not too poorly interpreted the August and charitable intentions of the Holy Father, and awaiting those instructions that Your Eminence may be pleased to impart to me in this regard, I humbly bow to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2175.
July 2, 1918 Gasparri to Pacelli:
Dearest Monsignore,I have received your no. 7191, concerning my letter to Eminence Bourne.
The reason or motive that occasioned my letter was essentially the following. In the Times and the Morning Post of London, it was published that I had deplored that Palestine had been occupied by a Power that did not have the true faith, that is England. I replied that this is absolutely false, that indeed I maintained that England, in preference to all other Powers, would give assurance of order, respect for established rights, and improvement of the Holy Places. In truth, I believed I had written: in preference to other Powers, but I am moving on.
With the words: in preference, etc., I did not intend and could not intend to make a comparison between England and all the other Powers of the whole world, but between England and the other co-occupying Powers, that is France, Italy and (at least in rights under agreement) Russia; and the other Powers mentioned in speeches by highly important men of state and the most serious newspapers as probable successors to Turkey in Palestine, that is the Greeks, the Arabs and the Hebrews. The other Powers of the world, Germany, America, Austria, etc., not excluding Turkey, were not in question, thus my words could not refer to them. Now I certainly prefer England to all the other Powers named above, as better explained in my previous letter.
This is the meaning of my words; I expect You to get that into the thick skulls of the Germans.
Affectionate greetings,
P.C.G.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2468.
July 19, 1918 Gasparri to Pacelli:
Most Illustrious and Reverend Signore,According to reports reaching the Holy See from a reliable source, currents adverse to Catholicism are sharply advancing in Poland, especially on the part of the Hebrews and the Protestants, for whom the Germans would create a solid public situation in the new State, nor, before having it assured to them, will they turn over to the Polish Government – as it seems – the “Religious” game that is in their hands. The anti-Catholic current is making itself felt in such a way that Deputy Bell of the Center Party, in the Reichstag session of June 8th, unambiguously denounced the systematic exclusion of Catholics from being employees and Officials in the occupied countries, particularly in the General Government of Warsaw.
Also in Ukraine the Germans are said to be favoring the Orthodox over the Catholics, as seen also in the enclosed Proclamation of the Ukrainian Hetman to the populations of Chelm and Podlachia, which was examined and censored by the occupation Authorities, who have prohibited the Corpus Christi procession outside the Churches and instead permitted the infamous [Russian Orthodox Metropolitan] Evlogij to lord it over them.
Not even the most urgent and necessary request for the liberty of the Catholic Church, that is, the abolition of the Russian laws against it, could be realized up to now. The Polish Bishops already presented this request to the State Council, but it is absolutely defenseless and powerless, while on the other hand, the occupation Authorities who alone were able to bring it about, do not appear disposed to do it before having seen about the Protestants and Hebrews, and before having “administered” ecclesiastical property.
These reports have caused displeasure and concern to the Holy Father, Who, via myself, is involving Your Illustrious Excellency to take desired efforts to obtain at least the abolition of the laws issued by the Russian Government against the liberty of the Catholic Church. You may be able, for this purpose, to make appeal to the profound Catholic sentiments of the Reich Chancellor [Count Hertling], or to request prudently the intervention of some influential Center Party Deputy and other German Personages.
His Holiness fully understands all the difficulties and all the delicacy of the matter, but since he also knows Your noble zeal and Your tested prudence, he is certain that You will succeed in obtaining some amelioration of the situation of the Catholic Church in the territories in the East occupied by the German armies...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 3470.
Nov. 11, 1918 Nuncio Pacelli from Munich to Cardinal Gasparri in Rome, by encrypted telegram:
His Excellency the Archbishop of Munich came to me and represented to me that if the Armistice clause about the continuation of the blockade of Germany should remain in effect, it appears that hundreds of thousands of city dwellers, in Belgium alone, could die of hunger, and this would work a horrific catastrophe. He therefore supplicates His Holiness to take opportune steps with the President of the United States and the Entente governments to forestall such a tremendous misfortune.The same Most Excellent Archbishop, considering that my person is exposed to near and grave danger, has confidentially suggested to me that I should betake myself to Swiss territory; Your Most Reverend Eminence may wish to deign to impart opportune instructions, both for me and for the personnel of the Nunciature.
Source: Historical Archive of the Secretariat of State (Holy See), Section for Relations with States, Vatican Secret Archives, AA.EE.SS., Stati Ecclesiastici, 1914-1918, pos. 1317, fasc. 470, vol. XII, fol. 390r, reprinted at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 6092.
Nov. 15, 1918 Nuncio Pacelli to Cardinal Gasparri, from Munich:
Most Reverend Eminence,In your esteemed detailed letter of October 23rd, Your Most Reverend Eminence deigned to request explanations concerning the causes of Germany’s enormous catastrophe on the Western Front. Although the various Reports after this event that should have arrived in Rome could have amply clarified this question, I am nonetheless carrying out my duty to summarize concisely here the causes of the events:
1. The first cause of the German defeat was the active intervention of the United States, which, sending to France a huge army composed of young, fresh elements and armed with the most copious quantities of high quality war materiel, reversed the military situation in short order in favor of the Entente, forcing the German troops to begin their retreat. Especially effective were the actions of innumerable tanks, whose assaults were irresistible. Germany realized too late the formidable error it committed when it announced unrestricted submarine warfare, which provoked America’s entry into the war. The military authorities, following the usual prideful mentality that led them to underestimate the enemy, laughed off the idea of American intervention at the time, thinking it was an American bluff and that the United States, so far away and so little prepared for war, without military training, without officers, etc., would not be able to create terrible forces to overpower the invincible German organization... Then in July of last year, when Deputy Erzberger demonstrated to the principal Reichstag Commission the lack of success of the [submarine warfare] enterprise and provoked the vote on the well-known “Peace Resolution,” and shortly after he read to a Center Party meeting a secret report from [Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister] Czernin to the Emperor, which outlined the future in rather grim terms, the pan-Germanists and militarists, in their blindness and crazy pride, pounced on him, accusing him of defeatism and practically of treason against the fatherland, making him live it down and practically disavow the “Resolution” itself.
2. Simultaneously with the growth of the power of the armies of the Entente, by contrast, the strength of the armies of the Central Powers became weaker. The diminished fighting spirit of the German troops was already apparent during the offensive on the Western Front from March to July last year, as Germany tried to pre-empt, by an audacious strike, the imminent threat of the Americans’ intervention... The reasons for this deterioration were several-fold: (a) the inevitable weariness from four long years of fighting and suffering, (b) the lack of adequate food and clothing, the soldiers often being famished and injured, (c) the active Socialist and Bolshevik propaganda in the ranks of the army, (d) the detrimental influence exercised upon the military, often instigating them to rebellion, by their own family members, who were also worn out by such struggles and privations, whether this influence came by way of letters or above all while they were on leave.
3. The depression in the German army naturally increased when the retreat began around the middle of July. At the beginning of August the Supreme Command decided to pull back the troops upon the old Hindenburg Line, which was considered impregnable, and even though they had to recognize that there was no longer any way to win the war, yet they believed it certain that they would not be conquered and that they would be able to defend indefinitely. Instead, the ever-growing power of the Entente, under the united command of General Foch, continually pressing the offensive and not giving a single day of respite to the German troops, not only made their powerful line waver, but brought, as the even graver result,
4. the collapse of Germany’s allies, of which Austria-Hungary had to surrender not so much because of the military situation (it was still able to maintain its front), as by reason of complete internal dissolution. Nevertheless Germany, even when left alone against an entire world of enemies, could perhaps, with a new levy of manpower, have avoided a breakthrough on its front and a military catastrophe, if the increasingly troubled and restless domestic situation had not constrained it to beg for an armistice and peace at any price, opting for capitulation. With the armistice it got revolution, which overthrew all the thrones and proclaimed the socialist republic.
There is no doubt that if Germany had heeded the suggestions of the Holy See, it would not have been brought to such a sad end. The Chancellor, Mr. von Bethmann Hollweg, had actually agreed to the point proposed by the Holy See, but precisely because of his relative moderation, he was overthrown, seemingly by an attack from Mr. Erzberger, but in reality by the overbearing will of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who dictated to the Emperor, who, moreover, was a rather unbalanced man and was, along with them, a pan-Germanist and a militarist, and surrounded by pan-Germanists and militarists...
As Your Eminence can well understand, I have not had a possibility of seeing either the Emperor or, up to now, the ex-Chancellor [Count von Hertling] who has retired to his estate at Ruhpolding [Bavaria]; but Your Eminence can be assured that I have shown all the other political and diplomatic men with whom I am in contact the error committed by the governing figures of Germany in persisting in the folly and pride of their warlike way, notwithstanding the suggestions from the Holy See, and I must add that many of them have recognized the truth of this observation...
Source: Vatican Secret Archives, reprinted in Emma Fattorini, Germania e Santa Sede [Germany and the Holy See] (1992), pp. 307-310, and at the online www.Pacelli-Edition.de, with Italian original and German translation. The Pacelli Edition is an online searchable database of correspondence between Pacelli's Nunciature in Germany and the Vatican Secretariat of State; it is a project of the University of Münster, Germany, in cooperation with the German Historical Institute in Rome and the Vatican Secret Archive; it is financed by the German Research Foundation.
Nov. 15, 1918 Nuncio Pacelli to Cardinal Gasparri, from Munich:
Most Reverend Eminence,The revolution in Bavaria exploded suddenly like lightning. The revolutionary leaders themselves did not believe (for all one can suppose) that they had triumphed in that tragic night of November 7th to 8th. They attempted a sudden strike. They speculated on the psychological state of masses eager for peace, starved for bread, wearied by four years of unheard-of sacrifices. The soldiers could be the strong arm of the revolution. Under the weight of a discipline made even more steely by the exigencies of war, they also, tormented by long and painful privations, were easily lured by terrible passion.
To these psychological conditions must be added the example of Russia and the Socialist propaganda in the army. These can be stated as the remote causes of the revolution. It would be a mistaken assessment to believe that the excesses into which the Russian Revolution degenerated would be a salutary example for revolutionaries in other countries. What for men of order were slaughters, muggings and massacres, were for men who dreamed and worked for the revolution, events that encouraged them and drove them on to the fulfillment of their cruel ideals. Then Socialist propaganda in the ranks of the army was so widespread and continuous that it could not fail to contribute its effects.
However (much as the future was rather obscure), no one predicted and no one could predict that such a storm would occur in Bavaria for the first time and so suddenly explode.
The Socialist Party and the Free Workers Associations had planned a big demonstration for peace at 3 o’clock on Thursday the 7th of this month, remembering on that day the anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Similarly inclined to celebrate on this occasion the union of the Socialists with the Independents (the left wing of the Socialists), orators from both parties spoke on this day. Naturally the Independents put forward a radical order of the day that went from social providence for the workers and soldiers to the abdication of the Kaiser and the renunciation of the Crown Prince.
Already during the speeches and the demonstration that followed them, the soldiers agitated among the crowd (which was counted at several hundreds of thousands of persons), and this military agitation was headed up by the publicist Kurt Eisner and by Deputy Gandorfer. Spirits were fired up, calm went out the window, and riots were threatening. After shouting “down with the King” and the Kaiser beneath the Residence Palace until a late hour, the revolutionary leaders wanted to attempt a coup. Soldiers and the crowd went off toward the barracks. What happened there is indescribable. Everything was devastated, stolen by the unrestrained rebellion, without any limitations from the mob of soldiers. The officials were forced to flee, disarmed and beaten, forced to tear off the national cockade from their hats, which all the soldiers had already taken off and thrown away. No battalion, no company, no soldier from the garrison remained faithful to his King (as ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs von Dandl told me the day after). Thus it was that, developing tumultuously, in the rooms of a beer hall, a first council of soldiers and workers, the revolution took possession of the telegraph and telephone offices, the central train station, and all the public administrative buildings. And meanwhile throughout the night there was sporadic firing of rifles, machine guns, hand grenades, which the soldiers had seized in the barracks, sacking all the munition depots...
Nonetheless the population, if unable to sleep tranquilly during that night, believed in general that conflicts between police and demonstrators had provoked the continuous shooting. Instead Munich, waking up on the morning of the 8th of this month, was surprised by the news in the newspapers that Bavaria had become a Social Democratic Republic.
In fact in this historic night the revolutionaries took over the Landtag and constituted there a Provisional Council of workers, soldiers and farmers, proclaiming Bavaria a democratic and socialist republic and overthrowing the Wittelsbach Dynasty...
When Kurt Eisner retained for himself the presidency of the Ministerial Cabinet, he said he did it because his persona was the symbol of the revolution. He was right. To sketch his person is to summarize what the revolution in Bavaria truly represents. Atheist, radical socialist, implacable propagandist, intimate friend of Russian nihilists, head of all the revolutionary movements of Munich, imprisoned any number of times for political crimes, and moreover a Galician Jew, Kurt Eisner is the flag, the program, the soul of the revolution, which rages in Bavaria and menaces its religious, political and social life. It is said that in the first secret session Eisner had exclaimed, “Now we need to be done with the priests.” The other Ministers found that the moment had not yet arrived. And in fact the tactic of the revolutionaries is explained for the time being as not offending the sentiments of the population. They are making it believed that they will give full freedom of worship, that there will not be another Kulturkampf, that conscience will be respected. And meanwhile the Minister of Education is a Protestant and a well-known anti-clerical.
Thanks be to God, Bavarian Catholics have taken a stand. The newspaper of Catholics in Munich, the Bayerischer Kurier, in an explicit, energetic article, stated that Catholics will not provoke disorders, but, trusting in the promise of freedom by the revolutionary Government, are demanding this freedom for religion, for the schools, and for the exercise of worship, and will defend with drawn swords the rights and goods of the Church.
The Catholic labor associations, in a solemn assembly, affirmed the same program. The Bishops are consulting with each other to establish a unified and energetic line of conduct. The Center Party is not asleep. The clergy and religious Orders are seeking to save themselves and save their rights and their property. The catastrophe is immense, however, and everyone is afraid that the saddest days may be approaching for the Catholic Church in Bavaria. The general opinion is that the men who stand in power will not be able to remain long. Everyone is hoping in the National Assembly elections, everyone is preparing for them. But who is unaware that the elections are held by the Government, which holds the power in its hands? The Monarchy appears gone forever, all the more since the King released the officials from their oath of loyalty, and since, with the Bavarian Monarchy have passed away one after another of the Reigning Houses in Germany, starting with that of the Hohenzollerns. The future appears uncertain and perilous. Bolshevism, anarchy, famine, the disorderly return of the troops from the front, the lack of the most necessary things for them, lodging, work, bread, clothing, are likewise problems of extreme gravity that obscure the present hour, so that the eye fears that it cannot see beyond the present. And as matters stand today, only the Mercy of God can save the Catholic Church in Bavaria.
To complete this report written with a distressed and affected heart, I say that on the day after the proclamation of the Republic, the Diplomatic Corps (consisting only of Germans and the Austrian Minister) met with the Nuncio for a conference about the attitude to take toward the new Government. It was decided unanimously to refrain from any action that could appear to be a recognition of that Government. However, I was asked to demand on behalf of all, permission for free movement, which was granted.
The day after, the telegraph offices having begun to refuse my coded telegrams, the Auditor of the Nunciature, Msgr. Schioppa, went to the Minister President. After an hour in the waiting room among domestics, while soldiers, workers and women, people of a hardly reassuring appearance, had free access to the aforementioned Minister, the Auditor was not received. Having to return the next day, and with difficulty, thanks to the intervention of the Head of Session (employed by the former Government), he could obtain for the Nunciature permission (or better said, recognition of its right) for telegrams in code and for correspondence under seal addressed to the Pontifical Representative in Bern, albeit without couriers and diplomatic guarantees. The behavior of Mr. Eisner was so unencouraging that it would be entirely contrary to the dignity of a Pontifical Nuncio to deal with him...
Source: Vatican Secret Archives, reprinted in Fattorini, Germania e Santa Sede, pp. 310-314, and in the online www.Pacelli-Edition.de, with Italian original and German summaries. The Pacelli Edition is an online searchable database of correspondence between Pacelli's Nunciature in Germany and the Vatican Secretariat of State; it is a project of the University of Münster, Germany, in cooperation with the German Historical Institute in Rome and the Vatican Secret Archive; it is financed by the German Research Foundation.
Nov. 20, 1918 Pacelli to Gasparri, from Munich:
Re: On the relationship with the new provisional governmentMost Reverend Eminence,
This morning the State Councilor, Mr. von Lössel, came to me; he has been for some time a high official in the Bavarian Foreign Ministry, where he is now remaining temporarily. He told me that he came to visit me in the name and at the instance of the current Minister, Kurt Eisner, and that, through Baron von Ritter, who still continues provisionally in the handling of the Affairs of the Bavarian Legation, the constitution of the new Government has been communicated to the Holy See. Mr. von Lössl insinuated to me at the end that, if I were to pay a reciprocal visit to the Ministry, the Minister himself would come to his office, where I could thus meet him. For my part, I limited myself to thanking the aforesaid State Councilor for his visit, adding that in the afternoon I would give him a response to his proposal. Then I disclosed to him that tomorrow I will depart for Switzerland, but I noted that it is a matter of ordinary temporary sick leave.
In the afternoon hours, according to my promise, I verbally made it known by way of Monsignor Auditor to Mr. von Lössl that I did not find it opportune, at the current moment, to visit. Monsignor Schioppa stated in my name that I did not intend to create any conflict nor to give offense to the Government or to the person of the Minister; indeed I fervently hope that in the future, whatever may be the form of the legitimate Government, the relations of the Holy See with Bavaria shall become excellent. Nonetheless (added Mons. Auditor), given the uncertainty at the present moment and the concerns that the current Government is arousing among Catholics, obvious reasons of prudence, as well as necessary considerations about Catholic public opinion (since the press would certainly highlight such a meeting), impose upon the Nuncio an attitude of reserve, in the expectation, rather, that the selfsame Government would give serious guarantees of respect for the rights of the Catholic Church.
The reasons for this response of mine were the following: 1st) The current Government, which moreover is only provisional, is composed of atheists, Jews, protestants, all Socialist revolutionaries, with whom it does not appear that an Apostolic Nuncio can have decent relations. Particularly debatable then is the person of Foreign Minister Kurt Eisner, Galician Hebrew, many times convicted and incarcerated for political crimes. 2nd) The proposed meeting would have produced, I believe, the worst impression among Catholics and indeed among all men of order. 3rd) The Government currently wishes to have the appearance of being in good relations with the Apostolic Nunciature, to calm Catholics and thus weaken their opposition in the upcoming elections, apart from that - but carrying out afterwards, naturally, when it feels completely secure, its anti-religious program. That is why, while in Saxony and Protestant Prussia the respective provisional Governments have already announced the separation of State and Church, the Bavarian Government has instead held back, for now, as it does not want to irritate the sensibilities of the Catholic population at the moment. In accepting this meeting, I would have played the game of the revolutionary and anti-religious Government. 4th) Monsignor Archbishop here (as he himself narrated to me a few days ago) not only refused to receive a committee of the Soldiers’ Council that was presented to him, but did not even want to go to the Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs, who indeed showed his surprise at that. 5th) None of the other members of the Diplomatic Corps resident in Munich have gone to the Foreign Ministry. It is really true, however, that the Sovereigns by whom they were accredited have all lost their thrones. 6th) Also the form in which this visit or meeting was proposed seemed to me abnormal and not very convenient. The Minister, who has been in power for thirteen days, has not yet notified the Diplomatic Corps of his entry into office, in any way, according to rule, indeed has somewhat pretended to ignore the Nunciature, whose right to send encoded telegrams was recognized only with difficulties (as I already had the honor to report to Your Most Reverend Eminence). And now I would have had to present myself at an introductory meeting in the office of a subordinate official, with the sole purpose of then having it announced to the public that the Apostolic Nuncio went to visit Kurt Eisner, with whom he is in good relations. 7th) I wanted, nevertheless, in order to avoid needless frictions, to remove from my refusal any character of harshness, and I therefore had it communicated by Monsignor Auditor in the terms referenced above.
I would have wanted to consult with Monsignor Archbishop here, before giving my response, but he is absent from Munich and will not return until tomorrow evening. Moreover, it was impossible to wait longer, since Mr. von Lössl expected a decision the same day.
In the hope that my conduct cannot fail to merit the superior approbation of Your Eminence, bowing to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 234.
Nov. 28, 1918 Schioppa to Gasparri:
Re: Immediate Guilt for the WarMost Reverend Eminence, Following up report No. 3269 of December 30, 1917, I believe it my duty to report to Your Most Reverend Eminence concerning an event that for some days has occupied all the German press, which certainly will have a large echo abroad as well, and which has produced and undoubtedly will produce notable political consequences.
The Bayerische Staatszeitung (No. 275 of Nov. 26th) reproduced the following official note: “Bavarian Minister President and Foreign Minister Eisner recently presented to the Central Government a proposal to publish the files about the origins of the war. This proposal is dictated by the conviction that only by means of the full truth can the people possess that trust which is the precondition for a peace according to the desire of the people themselves. The Bavarian Minister President, for his part, will undertake to publish from the Bavarian diplomatic documents those files that will clarify the prehistory of the world war. First of all will be published some details taken from reports by the Bavarian Ambassador in Berlin, Count Lerchenfeld. In a report of July 18, 1914, the Bavarian Ambassador in Berlin, Count Lerchenfeld, speaks of the relations of the Berlin Government and the most unfortunate Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia.”
The text of said report follows, a text which I have the honor to enclose herewith (Attachment I). According to it, Germany appeared directly culpable for the outbreak of the war, since it was perfectly aware of the content of the Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia.
This publication by the Bavarian Government was greeted by the majority of the press with the strongest reprobation, although it conformed to the necessity of the people being illuminated about the origins of the war. “But it is another thing,” wrote Germania, “if a single State or the representative of a single State should do it by its own policy, which, more or less directly, leans on that man of State among our enemies who undoubtedly wishes the worst upon us, and who will certainly want to frustrate any political and diplomatic action by the Central Government in the interest of the German people.”
And here the newspaper makes an attack on Mr. Kurt Eisner, which is worth the pain of reproducing: “The question is posed (says Germania): who really is Mr. Kurt Eisner.” The public knows him only recently as Bavarian Minister President, as this representative of the people pridefully proclaims himself. We do not want to attack his person if we are tempted to verify that east-Galician Jewish origin hiding under the German-sounding name Eisner and those grand lordly manners this representative of the proletariat assumed in a salon-car.” (In fact Mr. Eisner, in his recent excursion from Munich to Berlin and back again, traveled in a special royal train.) “But we must give greater importance to the fact that he is in continuous relations with the Prime Minister of the French Republic, Clemenceau, as Eisner himself declared yesterday in the conference of the Federated States of Germany, saying that he knows the situation of the Entente not from the newspapers, but from personal relations.”
In addition to the reprobation by the press, there are other facts to note concerning the aforesaid Bavarian publishing, including
1st) The Bavarian Legation to Berlin has communicated that the published report was not written by Ambassador Count Lerchenfeld, but by Dr. Hans von Schön.
2nd) The then Bavarian Ministers of Education, of Justice, of Finance, and of Communications have declared to the current Minister President of Bavaria that until now they had no knowledge, either officially or privately, of the mentioned report and the facts contained in it.
3rd) The Foreign Minister of Berlin has published in this regard the following: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has protested against the publication made in Munich about the prehistory of the war...”
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 3042.
Nov. 28, 1918 Schioppa to Gasparri:
Re: Transmission of a petition from the Archbishop of MunichReport no. 11066
Most Reverend Eminence,
The Archbishop of Munich has interested me in making his here-enclosed petition come to the August Throne of the Holy Father, concerning the right of appointment to Parish Churches that the current revolutionary Bavarian Government might presume for itself as successor to the rights of the former Monarchy.
The petition was accompanied by a letter addressed to me in which Archbishop von Faulhaber says: “We Bishops are all convinced that it would be too broad a power to concede to the new Government the patronal rights of the Royal Government. Moreover, we are no less convinced that without tolerance and restraint, the separation of State and Church will be immediately required in Bavaria, and the clerics in these times of misery would be condemned to extreme poverty... It would be very important for the discussions to be held in the upcoming Conference of the Bavarian Bishops schedule for the 10th and 11th of December, to have the decision of the Holy Father, or at least a ‘provisoinal instruction.’”
Beyond this letter, there is associated with the petition an opinion from the Bishop of Regensburg, which Archbishop von Faulhaber has requested that I hold in the Nunciature Archives, but which I believe it my duty to send, here-enclosed, to Your Most Reverend Eminence for a complete understanding of the issue. Concerning this opinion, Archbishop von Faulhaber has told me that it cannot be taken into consideration, because the Ministry has already been wary of the intention of the Bishops to play for time.
In a conversation I then had with the aforesaid Archbishop of Munich, he said to me that, since the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs is pushing for the appointment to vacant parishes, he will make it known to him that the Bishops do not have the right to make a decision on their own in this regard, that the issue has already been carefully explained to the Holy See and that one needs to await the decision that the Holy Father will deign to make.
Meanwhile Archbishop von Faulhaber urgently requests to care be taken to make the implored decision as soon as possible, even though he assured that there will not be any harm if the Parishes remain vacant for yet some time, but that this time could not be prolonged to more than three or four weeks.
In asking Your Eminence to be pleased to place the aforesaid petition in the venerated Hands of the Holy Father, I have the honor to bow humbly to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: Pacelli-Edition.de, Dokt No 251
November 1918 Hochland article by Eduard Stadtler, “Der revolutionäre Geist in Rußland. Eine Studie zur Entstehung der russischen Revolution”:
Der Einfluß der revolutionären Bewegung Westeuropas auf Rußland war stets ein eigenartiger. Die Revolution von 1789 hat Rußland seinerzeit direkt gar nicht berührt. Während in Westeuropa die Pariser Weltgeschehnisse tiefe Wirkung ausübten, blieb man im zaristischen Ostreiche wie außerhalb der Einflußsphäre dieses fern im Westen sich abspielenden Dramas. Dafür aber wirkte die Revolution indirekt um so stärker: die antirevolutionäre Reaktion, welche als Gegenwirkung gegen den stürmischen Radikalismus der französischen Revolution in Frankreich und in den zum Miterleben gezwungenen Nachbarstaaten sich auslebte, kam ausgerechnet in dem von der Revolution unberührt gebliebenen Rußland am schärfsten zum Ausdruck. Paul I. hat diese Reaktion nach innen ebenso maßlos durchgeführt, wie sie Alexander l. und Nikolaus l. nach außen in den Beziehungen zur europäischen Staatenwelt zur Verwendung brachten. Alexander l., die Seele der Heiligen Allianz, gestützt auf die rohe Kraft seines mehr außerhalb der westeuropäischen Kultursphäre gewordenen Staates, hat den reaktionären Druck gegen das revolutionäre Frankreich mit allen ihm zur Verfügung stehenden ideellen und materiellen Mitteln wirken lassen.
Auch die Revolution von 1848 prallte an den undurchdringlichen autoritären Mauern des zaristischen Rußlands ab. Sie hatte desgleichen wieder die indirekte Wirkung, daß die gegen die revolutionären Ansrürme Westeuropas aufgerichteten reaktionären Schutzdämme verstärkt wurden. Auch dieses Mal tobte die russische Reaktion gegen die abendländische Revolution im Innern Rußlands, und es fällt nicht auf, daß in Rußland die Jahre 1848-1855 im Zeichen der höchsten Reaktion standen. Man kann diese Wirkung der Revolutionen von 1789 und 1848 mit den Wirkungen vergleichen, welche hysterische Gespensterfurcht auf unreife Geister ausübt.
Auf den vorwärtsstrebenden Teil des russischen Volkes mußte diefe Gespensterfurcht im Sinne stärkeren Antriebes zur Erreichung der verbotenen Frucht wirken. Deshalb sind denn auch aus diesen durch die inneren Zustände Rußlands nicht gerechtfertigten Reaktionsbewegungen heraus, die sich an den revolutionären Bewegungen des Auslandes ihr Objekt suchten, in Rußland je und je kleinere oder größere politische Bewegungen und revolutionäre Putsche entstanden. Zunächst der Dekabristenaufstand von 1825, der als erste bemerkenswerte Nachahmung der Großen Französischen Revolution anzufehen ist. War die Reaktion von Paul l. und Alexander l. gewiffermaßen Importware vom Westen, so trug auch der Dekabristenaufstand als Gegenbewegung durchaus den Stempel des ,Westlertums’, denn er wurde inszeniert von jenem Teil des Offizierskorps, welcher von den westeuropäischen Schlachtfeldern die Sehnsucht nach der politischen Kultur Westeuropas, vor allem Frankreichs, mit in die Heimat brachte. Anschließend [172] sind zu nennen die weniger tumultuarischen Freiheitsbewegungen von 1840 bis 1848, besonders aber die große Freiheitsbewegung von 1855-1862, die dann auch einen mit dem Namen Alexander II. verbundenen gesetzlich konstitutionellen Ausdruck fand. Teils unter dem Einfluß des chaotischen revolutionären Gedankensystems Westeuropas, teils unter dem Druck der unsystematischen, gefühlmäßig extremen Art des russischen Volkscharakters, teils auch infolge der unorganischen Entwicklung des russischen Staates endeten diese Bewegungen stets in jäher Weife mit einem Ausbruch reaktionärer Gegenströmungen. Die politischen Bewegungen, ob fie konstruktiv oder zerstörend, ob sie von oben oder von unten kamen. entbehrten nie des radikalen Zuges und trugen deshalb keimartig die Gegenbewegung schon in sich. Zwischen den genannten freiheitlich-revolutionären Zeiten liegen denn auch stets wie Schluchten zwischen Berghöhen reaktionäre Perioden.
Im Jahre 1905 brach dann mitten in den Erschütterungen eines verlorenen Krieges die erste ,Große’ russische Revolution aus. Sie hatte einen halb bürgerlich-demokratischen. einen halb proletarisch-sozialistischen Charakter und war recht und schlecht ein gemischtes Plagiat der Revolution von 1789 und der Revolution von 1848 mit starker Betonung der verfassungspolitischen Tendenzen dieser beiden Revolutionen. Nach außen hin trat als Errungenschaft dieser Revolution die Duma in Erscheinung, ein Wechselbalg. der niemanden zur Freude geriet. weil er gegenueber den immer schärfer in Rußland sich herausarbeitenden extremen Richtungen von rechts und links eine viel zu geringe innere, zeitgemäße, pofitive Kraft befaß. Als konstitutionelle Einfuhrware aus dem Westen war die Duma entweder ein Spielzeug in der Hand der Reaktion oder eine revolutionäre Waffe in der Hand der Revolution. Und es kann deswegen nicht wunder nehmen, daß auch die Duma die extremen Pendelbewegungen reaktionärer und revolutionärer Kräfte nicht zu mäßigen imstande war, daß sie vielmehr selbft von den Bewegungen mitgerissen wurde.
Auf die Revolutionsbewegungen von 1905 bis 1907 folgte automatisch eine scharfe Reaktionsbewegung, die in direktem Verhältnis stand zu der radikalen Kraft der Erschütterung des Jahres 1905.
So stellte das Rußland des 19. Jahrhunderts einlebendiges Revolutionsfeld dar; nur dem Nichtkenner konnte es aus weiter Ferne den Eindruck eines politischen Kirchhofes machen. In Wirklichkeit schossen die revolutionäre Saat des Westens und das reaktionäre Gegengift in wildem Wettbewerb üppig empor.
Dringt man nun von der Oberfläche geschichtlichen Geschehens in die Tiefen der russischen Volksseele hinab, um die dem staatlichen Werdegang zugrundeliegenden geistigen und sozialen Kräfte der russischen Kultur zu ergründen, so staunt man über die ,revolutionäre’ Veranlagung und die radikale Tendenz dieses auf den ersten Blick so fromm-demütigen und apathischen Volkes. Dann wird der tiefe Zusammenhang der revolutionären Ereignisse Rußlands bloßgelegt. Man gewinnt dabei die Überzeugung, daß [173] der revolutionäre Geist in wenig Ländern so tiefe Wurzeln geschlagen hat wie gerade in Rußland.
Revolutionärer Geist ist das Streben nach einer solchen Aenderung bestehender Zustände, daß durch die Vernichtung des Bestehenden und durch plötzliche radikale Umwälzung der Neuaufbau ,von Grund auf’ ermöglicht wird. Es steht dieser Geist im Gegensatz zum Evolutionsgeist, zum organischen Prinzip. Hier geht das Streben auf Formveränderung von innen heraus, nach den Gesetzen der biologischen Erneuerung, durch natürliche, allmähliche, konsequente Fortentwicklung. Es sind zwei Weltanschauungen und zwei Temperamente zugleich, die sich dabei entgegenstehen.
Revolutionäres Denken und radikales Temperament wurzeln sehr tief in den gewaltigen Gegensätzen, welche Rußland kennzeichnen. Eine Überwindung dieser Gegensätze durch Synthese ist bislang noch nicht geglückt. Die schroffste Antithese, die krassesten Widersprüche sind und bleiben das Charakteristische dieses Landes.
Da sind zunächst die klimatisch-geographischen Zuftände Rußlands. Das extreme kontinentale Klima mit seinem langen, grausam kalten Winter und seiner kurzen, heißen Sommerzeit ohne die zarten und versöhnenden Übergänge einer lieblichen Frühlingszeit, eines sonnigen Herbstes konnte nicht ohne Rückwirkungen auf den Charakter des Volkes sein. Jener schlaffe, fatalistische, ergebene Zug, der den Russen kennzeichnet, ist sicher ein physiologischer Reflex auf den Druck, den äußerste Kälte und äußerste Hitze auf den Menschen auszuüben vermögen. Gleichzeitig bedingt diese klimatische Sprunghaftigkeit von äußerster Kälte zu äußerster Hitze jenen plötzlichen, unvermittelten, unorganischen, jenen radikalen und revolutionären Zug, der nur scheinbar dem passiven Grundzug zuwiderläuft, ihn in Wirklichkeit aber in ganz natürlicher Weise ergänzt.
In derselben Richtung wirken dann auch die Raumbedingungen des Landes. Die Unendlichkeit dieser Raumverhältniffe, die unermeßliche Weite und Breite der russischen Erde nehmen dem Volke den europäischen Sinn für den Wert der Zeit, besser gesagt, für den Wert der Minute und für den Wert der Intensitäts- und Qualitätsarbeit. Die ,breite’ russische Art liebt es, sich der Fülle der Raumquantität vertrauensvoll und träumerisch hinzugeben.
Wenn der Mensch das Unendlichkeitsmotiv, angewandt auf Raum und Zeit, auf sich wirken läßt, verfällt er bekanntlich einer passiven, mystischen Gottergebenheit, die seinen Willen zur Tat gewissermaßen außerhalb des Raumes und der Zeit stellt. Dabei wird der Mensch der irdischen Tat unfähig. So geht’s dem Russen in Bezug auf das Verhältnis zur Raumunendlichkeit seines Landes. Seine Vorstellungen von Vaterland, Staat, Gesellschaft und Volkswirtschaft werden gewissermaßen dem Augenblick entrückt, in die Weite geworfen, von der Wirklichkeit abstrahiert. Traumhaftes und Emotionales macht sich überall da breit, wo der Zwang zur Tat und der Sinn für die Wirklichkeit den Willen [174] bestimmen sollten. Auch diese passive, traumhafte Stellungnahme zu Raum und Zeit bedingen dann jeweilig, wenn die Not am größten, plötzlich Ausbrüche des lang verhaltenen Tätigkeitstriebs, radikale Explosionen der Naturkraft des russischen Willens gegen die Widerstaende, welche Außenwelt und Innenwelt der russischen Natur entgegensetzen.
So ist der radikale, revolutionäre Geist etwas Ur-russischen. Er ist der Passivität und Schlaffheit der russischen Volksseele wesensverwandt, im Sinne der notwendigen, temporären Ergänzung, des natürlichen Gegenpols. Die passive Art und die revolutionär-aktivistische Art des russifschen Wesens stehen zueinander wie weibliche Art und männliche Art in der Menschheit. Man sagt allgemein, der russische Volkscharakter sei durch und durch weiblich, die geistige Rezeptivität sei größer als die Produktivität, das Gemütsleben trete beherrschend in den Vordergrund, auffallend sei der Mangel an männlichen Willensmerkmalen, wie Stetigkeit, Konsequenz, Entschiedenheit, Machtstreben., der Russe sei irrational wie das Gemüt, das ihn beherrsche; aber das ist nur die eine Seite der russischen Natur, allerdings die augenfällige. Daneben ist der Russe auch zeitweilig von roher, ungebundener Männlichkeit. Das merkt man schon bei seinem unberechenbaren, sprunghaften Draufgängertum im Denken und bei seinem noch unberechenbareren, stoßhaften Tun und Wollen. Der Russe denkt und handelt plötzlich, fliegend, ruckweise, blitzartig, im Nu der Welt und der Wirklichkeit entrückt. Immer ,radikal’ und ,revolutionär’! Oft tragen ihn dabei kindlicher Instinkt oder sicherer Takt glücklich durch den philosophischen Urwald. Aber die Fähigkeit zum systematischen; planvollen, organischen Verstehen oder gar zu bedächtigem, allseits gesichertem Streben und Wirken geht ihm im allgemeinen ab. Gegeben ist den Russen, wie Puschkin sagt, die glückliche Regung, doch fehlt's am Vollenden. Puschkin hätte besser von blinder Regung gesprochen, die erst durch die Begleitumstände glücklich oder unglücklich wird. Russische Schriftsteller gehen sogar so weit, diesen Gegensatz unter einen ethischen Maßstab zu stellen.
So stellt sich uns der radikale Geist, die revolutionäre Veranlagung des Russen als eine Eigenart dar, die auf den natürlichen Verhältnissen des Landes ruht und als eine psychologische Reaktion temporär-explosiver Art gegen die urgewaltig der russischen Seele aufgedrückte Passivität charakterisiert werden kann. Unausgeglichen stehen sie nebeneinander, die extrem weibliche, im allgemeinen vorwiegende Passivität und die extrem männliche, doch viel seltenere Aktivität.
Was die Natur des Landes schon an Extremen aufweist, was in der Tiefe der russischen Volksfeele als unausgeglichener Gegensatz lebt, das äußert sich auch in der russischen Geschichte, in der russischen Literatur, vor allem in der russischen Politik. Überall begegnen wir im Leben des russischen Volkes und in den Erscheinungen der russischen Kultur dieser Polarität: langanhaltende feminine Hingabe an irgend eine mehr oder weniger roh und äußerlich waltende Kraft und dann plötzlich das vulkanartige Ausbrechen gegen den übermäßigen Druck dieser Kraft. Mit weib- [175] lichem Duldersinn paßt sich der Russe irgend einem Gegebenen an, ordnet sich sklavisch den Geboten der Umgebung unter, um hin und wieder in unberechenbarer Weise sich Emanzipationsgelüften hinzugeben. Ans Ziel gelangt er beide Male nicht. Denn in beiden Stadien überwiegen Gemüt und Gefühl, das Emotionale. Die Hingabe sowohl wie die Emanzipation arten in blinden Fanatismus aus. Angesichts des unausbleiblichen Mißerfolges schwankt dann die russische Seele in der Beurteilung ihres Könnens und Nichtkönnens zwischen mörderischer Selbstanklage bis zur Selbstvernichtung und leichtherziger Selbstüberschätzung bis zu gotteslästerlicher Überhebung.
Erst durch das Verständnis des oben gekennzeichneten russischen Doppelwesens werden einem sonst ganz rätselhafte Erscheinungen der russischen Politik etwas verständlicher. So z. B. der Gegensatz zwischen ,Westlertum’ und ,Allrussentum’. Im ,Westlertum’ haben wir es mit einer übertriebenen, extremen, oft unsachlichen Verehrung der westlichen Kultur zu tun. In dieser Verehrung finden wir alle kennzeichnenden Eigenheiten des russischen ,Radikalismus’ wieder: überschwengliche Empfänglichkeit für die wirklichen und für die scheinbaren Werte der westeuropäischen Zivilisation, passive Hingabe an dieselben, Unfähigkeit; das Niveau der westlichen Kultur in systematischer Arbeit zu erreichen, plötzliche Ausbrüche radikalen Wollens, um sie sich auf einmal, ,revolutionär’ anzueignen, dann wieder Rückfall in den Fatalismus, in verzweifelnde Gleichgültigkeit. Durch alle Stadien des geistigen Sicheinlebens und des praktischen Kämpfens hindurch bleiben dabei die ,Westler’ gefühlsmäßig ihrem Ideal true, ja der Mißerfolg erhöht nur ihre echt-russische, orientalische Vergötterungssucht gegenüber dem unerreichbaren ,Westen’.
Im ,Allrussentum’ finden wir dasselbe wieder; nur das Objekt ändert sich. Das slavische Ideal tritt an Stelle des ,Westlichen’. Auch hier Überschwang in der gefühlsmäßigen Hinneigung, Radikalismus der Begeisterung, hinreißende Ansätze zur Tat, köstlicher Elan, aber keine Fähigkeit zum Denken nach geordneten; nüchternen Reihen, zum Abwägen, zum zweckmäßigen Aufbauen der Handlungen. Und auch im Verhältnis zwischen ,Westlertum’ und ,Allrussentum’, gerade weil beide irrational gedacht, empfunden und angestrebt werden, wird der Gegensatz im harten Ringen des Alltags nicht abgeschliffen, sondern verschärft. Denn es fehlt an vermittelnden Größen, als da sind nüchterne Verstandesbegabung und Zwang zur Tat.
So erklärt sich auch die ,radikale’ Art des ganzen russischen Parteilebens. Überall ,Maximalismus’, revolutionärer Geist, ,Bolschewismus’. Die Linksströmungen des westeuropäischen Parteilebens haben gerade in Rußland ihre extremste Ausdrucksform gefunden. Die Spannungen zwischen den Idealforderungen der Demokratie und den Zuftänden des gesellschaftlichen und politischen Lebens sind schon in Westeuropa so gewaltig, daß der auf gewaltsame Lösung hinstrebende Massengeist auch dort nur zu leicht dem Radikalismus verfällt. Zum Glück sind in Westeuropa die traditionellen Bindegewalten so stark, daß sie die Staaten im Gleichgewicht [176] erhalten und bei revolutionären Erschütterungen wieder in ein gewisses Gleichgewicht zu bringen imstande sind. Anders in Rußland, wo jene Spannung eine ungeheuer viel größere ist und zugleich die traditionellen Bindegewalten geringeren moralischen inneren Wert haben. In einem solchen Land muß deshalb rebus sic stantibus, der radikale Trieb in den ,fortschrittlichen’ Schichten besonders stark auswachsen. Der Nihilismus, der Anarchismus, der Bolschewismus sind denn auch typische russische Bewegungen, weniger wegen ihres geistigen Gehaltes als wegen ihrer ,radikalen’ Form.
Dasselbe gilt aber auch von den Rechtsströmungen im russischen Parteileben. Der Zarismus ist ja im Grunde genommen auch nichts anderes als eine urrussische Erscheinung der Politik. Das Wesen des Zarismus ist doch der aus Unvermögen und Schwäche gegenüber den Forderungen einer von innen ausgehenden und nach innen gerichteten Staatsentwicklung geborene radikale Drang nach äußerer Bewältigung der schwierigen Aufgabe. Der Zarismus und die ihn stützenden parteipolitischen Rechtsströmungen fußen auf der Voraussetzung, daß die russischen Raum verhältniffe und die ungeheuren Widerstände der russischen Volkskultur weder im Tempo noch mit den Methoden Westeuropas staatlich gebunden und bezwungen werden können. In diesem echt russischen Ohnmachtsgefühl gegenüber dem Zwange zu organischer Gestaltung verlegt sich der Zarismus auf eine den Schwierigkeiten und Widerständen entsprechende extreme Gewaltpolitik. Mildernd wirkten dabei nach außen die Gefühlsmomente der russischen Staatsreligiosität und noch mehr die einer durchgreifenden Gewaltpolitik als unüberwindliches Hindernis entgegentretende ,Raumwirtachaft’.
Das politische Machtmotiv in seiner radikalsten Form ist so charakteristisch für die russische Kultur, daß es über die Sphäre der Parteipolitik und der allgemeinen Staatspolitik auch auf das ganze Geiftesleben Rußlands über gegriffen hat. Man kann ruhig von politischer Radikalisierung oder mit einer anderen Nuance von einer radikalen Politisierung der russischen Geisteskultur reden. In anderen Ländern sind die Zusammenhänge zwischen Literatur und Politik nur lose. In Rußland greifen beide so stark ineinander, daß der Fremde staunt. Die russische Literatur ist durch und durch ,politisch’. Fast alle russischen Dichter und Romanschriftsteller sind zugleich radikale Politiker: sie unterminieren die den Prinzipien freien Geistesschaffens so feindseligen staatlichen Grundlagen des russischen Reiches, sie sabotieren den Zwangsstaat und das Machtmotiv (Nassilje) als Grundlage staatlicher Kultur, sie geben unstaatlich und antistaatlich wirkende Losungen aus, sie höhlen das Staatsgebäude aus, dem sie kulturelle Tragsäulen einzubauen berufen wären. Mit anderen Worten: die russischen Schriftsteller sind Berufsrevolutionäre. Umgekehrt sind fast alle russischen Politiker, besonders im Parteileben und in der Presse, Literaten, Künstler, Poeten. Das zeigt sich schon darin, daß derselbe Mann heute Theaterkritiker oder Theaterregisseur, morgen Parteisekretär, übermorgen Dumakandidat ist. Schauspieler ist ja der Russe von Geburt, und wo anders als auf der Bühne und [177] auf dem Überbrettel moderner Parlamentspolitik kann sich dieses Schauspielertalent ausleben? Auch genügt ein Blick in die russischen Zeitungen, um den Eindruck hervorzurufen, daß da statt politischen Denkens, statt politischen Tatendrangs literarischer Impressionismus herrscht. Wann überlegt sich ein russischer Journalist einen Artikel auf dialektische Sicherheit und auf taktische Wirkung? Ihm genügt der Künstlerstolz einer gelungenen literarischen Schöpfung. Er schreibt aus der Stimmung heraus mit den Schwingen künstlerischer Intuitions, und Phantasiebegabung, meist ohne klar erkanntes Ziel, ohne politisches Zweckwollen, besonders ohne System. Morgen schreibt er ganz anders, nicht aus einer anderen Situation, sondern aus einer anderen Stimmung heraus. Nicht viel anders ist der Parteipolitiker. Er legt seine Seele (Duscha), sein ganzes Gemüt in die Partei aufgaben, gleichsam wie ein Künstler, der sich in seinem Objekt verzehrt. Deshalb ist der russische Parteipolitiker ein Fanatiker par excellence., gefühlsmäßig beweglichen Geistes, stets zu impulsiver Tat bereit.
Es braucht wohl nicht gesagt zu werden, daß diese Verquickung von Politik und von Literatur für das russische Volk als dem Objekt einer literarisch frisierten Revolutionspolitik und einer radikalpolitisch wirkenden Literatur verhängnisvoll werden mußte. Denn so wertvoll es ist, wenn die Politik nicht ohne künstlerische Note ist - da die Politik ja selbft eine Kunst ift -, und so bedeutungsvoll es andererseits bleibt, wenn die Literatur die mannigfaltigen und dank der Verschmelzung von Volkstum und Staat so volkstümlichen Stoffe der Politik nicht achtlos beiseite schiebt, so verderblich ist es, wenn zwischen Politik und Literatur Synthesen zustande kommen, die das Wesen der einen oder der anderen Gattung beeinträchtigen und Wirkungen heraufbeschwören, die dem staatlichen Leben wie der höheren Geisteskultur gleich gefährlich werden.
So reicht die Revolution von 1917 mit ihren Wurzeln tief hinunter in den Urboden der russischen Natur. Ohne Kenntnis der geopolitischen und ideologischen Gründe des jetzigen Geschehens sieht man mit der rein staatspolitischen - und dazu zählt auch die schematisch-parteipolitifche - Erklärungsmethode vor der Monumentalität der russischen Ereignisse ganz hilflos da. Und wozu diese Hilflosigkeit führen kann, zeigt der unerhörte Wirrwarr in der öffentlichen Meinung Deutschlands gegenüber den russischen Fragen und vor allem die ängstlich abwartende, in der Begründung unklare, in der Taktik sprunghafte Politik des Deutschen Reiches gegenüber dem russischen Staatschaos. Da niemand anderer als Deutschland den Wiederaufbau im Osten organisatorisch leiten und durchführen kann, tut um so eingehenderes Studium der treibenden Kräfte der russischen Geschichte und der jetzigen Revolution dringend not. Wie sollen wir sonst Ersatz bieten können für den Verstand, welchen jetzt das russische Volk mit seinem Gefühlsradikalismus bei der revolutionären Vollendung des Tolstoischen Werkes entthront hat? Und was nützt deutsche Organisationskraft, wenn sie blind und kurzsichtig mit den schematischen Mitteln der Bureaukratie zur Bewältigung des russischen Chaos angesetzt wird?
Citation: Eduard Stadtler, “Der revolutionäre Geist in Russland. Eine Studie zur Entstehung der russischen Revolution”, Hochland 16:1:2 (November 1918), S. 171
Dec. 6, 1918 Schioppa to Gasparri:
Re: Transmission of petitionMost Reverend Eminence,
Enclosed herewith I have the honor to send Your Most Reverend Eminence a petition, duly recommended by the Prince-Bishop’s Delegate in Berlin, in which the Administration of the Jewish Women's Association of Berlin asks this Nunciature to implore the exalted intervention of the Holy Father for a cessation of the current persecutions against Jews, especially in Galicia and Poland.
Beseeching Your Eminence to please lay this supplication – if it is so deemed – before the August Throne of His Holiness, humbly bowing to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 2119.
Dec. 7, 1918 Schioppa to Gasparri:
Re: The elections for the new Bavarian LandtagFinally Minister-President Kurt Eisner had to give in. This morning a proclamation was published in which it was announced that: “The Government of the People’s State of Bavaria orders that the elections for the new Bavarian Landtag will take place on January 12, 1919.”
As I had the honor to report to Your Most Reverend Eminence in my respectful Report No. 11100 of Dec. 2, the main opposition to the convocation of the National Assembly came precisely from the Minister-President. In this he was followed by the Bolshevik Minister for Social Affairs and the Minister for Military Affairs, while all the other members of the Cabinet were for the National Assembly. The will of the Minister-President was then sustained by a ring of iron that was stretched around him and his Ministry through the Night of Revolution since in truth the Provisional Government could not be said to be free. The Councils of workers, soldiers and farmers, which were formed in the dramatic night of 7 to 8 November, elected the Ministers as they pleased, and this is why these Councils want to keep all force in their own hands, wanting to govern together with the Ministers and also have the executive power. The Council of workers, soldiers and farmers of Munich was formed from the dregs of the people, and in first place among them in the night of the Revolution were, in the majority, non-Bavarians, Sailors come for the purpose of Revolution, many Hebrews, and also rabid Bavarians who had already for a long time cried out against the nobility and the clergy...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 905.
Dec. 8, 1918 Wochenblatt für die katholischen Pfarrgemeinden Münchens [Weekly Paper for the Catholic Parish Communities of Munich]:
“Calm Yourselves! The Lord Means Well!”It is time to examine the bad aspects of the state of our Fatherland with the naked eye instead of through darkened glasses, and to observe the many good things the world war has hitherto brought.
Yes indeed: the many good things!
And what would they be?
Russian Czarism, which was always completely hostile toward the Roman Catholic Church, has been overthrown. With their enormous growth in population, the land-grabbing Russians would have been able to march into Berlin without even striking a blow. They would have conquered simply by their numbers. The destruction of this Moloch is to the everlasting credit of Hindenburg and his soldiers, who were thereby the instruments of a higher power. Along with Czarism has disappeared the support for the Orthodox clergy and the entire Schism. The enormous guilt of the year 1054 meets with its punishment...
Note: The name of the Archdiocesan weekly newspaper changed at the beginning of 1919 to Münchener katholische Kirchenzeitung [Munich Catholic Church Newspaper].
Dec. 14, 1918 Schioppa to Gasparri:
... Here in Munich, then, the head of the Spartacist Party is precisely a Hebrew Russian, a certain Dr. Levin...When the Bolshevik crisis is overcome, it can be trusted that the Bavarian People’s Party will have the majority. To this party are running every day not only new Catholic recruits but Hebrews, Liberals, Generals of the army, in sum all those who recognize in this party the good will to maintain public affairs still on a solid footing...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 903.
Dec. 20, 1918 Text of letter from Baron Cramer-Klett to Count Lerchenfeld of the Catholic political party in Bavaria, the Bayerische Volkspartei [Bavarian People’s Party], transmitted this date by the Munich Nunciature to Cardinal Gasparri in Rome:
Right Honorable Herr Count!In response to the Circular that has come into my possession, please allow me to inform you that I will pay into the designated Account in coming days the sum of __ Marks. [blank in original] According to the schema that was enclosed, approximately one-fourth of this sum would be a charge upon my account. I am ready, if possible, to make a further contribution to the People’s Party, and I am also preparing the way for this, however, as I consider making this allotment. I would not like to join the People’s Party straightaway, yet I pledge it my vote and that of my wife for the upcoming election.
My reasons for not joining are the following: Even though the Bavarian People’s Party stands up for the denominational school in its platform, yet every other part of it is interdenominational and insipid. Thus situations can arise in which the People’s Party must sacrifice Catholic interests in consideration for the great number of non-Catholic voters. Such a party I cannot join, because God’s blessing cannot rest upon it in the future. In this I catch a whiff of Modernism, which is a greater danger than Socialism, because it rages within our fold like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I am convinced that the leading personalities of the People’s Party are themselves not conscious of how dangerous a path they are on...
Source: Baron von Cramer-Klett to Count Hugo von Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg, Dec. 13, 1918, reprinted at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 703.
Dec. 31, 1918 Gasparri to Schioppa by encrypted cable:
I am resending, unchanged, cable 169 of Dec. 27. I have report 11066. It would have been opportune to warn Abp. Faulhaber in time so that he not bring up something that would compromise the Holy See. Now, after the fact, concerning the current Ministry’s presumed appointment to Parish Churches, you shall communicate to the Bavarian Bishops that the Holy See is disposed to examine the needs of the new situation if a new Government in Bavaria is durably constituted and is willing to negotiate with it. In the meantime Bishops, in individual cases, can act on their own, in a way solely de facto, without prejudicing Canon Law principles and without compromising the Holy See, possibly by setting up temporary parish administrators.
Source: Pacelli-Edition, Dokt No 3266
December 1918 Hochland editor Karl Muth’s article “Zur Zeitenwende”:
Wie große Katastrophe unserer Niederlage und deren natürliche Frucht, die politische und soziale Revolution, die mit noch unübersehbaren Folgen über uns hereingebrochen ist, haben uns jenem schon lange vorauszusehenden Augenblick nähergebracht, wo sich die christlich-sozial denkende und die revolutionär-sozialistische Welt wie zwei große Heerlager gegenüberstehen. Es wird der letzte große Entscheidungskampf sein in dem ungeheuren Ringen, das sich seit der Lockerung und schließlichen Auflösung der christlichen Gesellschaftsordnung des Mittelalters zwischen den bewahrenden und ausgleichenden Mächten und dem sich naturnotwendig immer erneuernden Umsturz durch die letzten vier Jahrhunderte hinzieht. Es ist kein Gegensatz möglich, der schärfer wäre als dieser. Hier die Begründung aller Autorität und damit aller sozialen und politischen Ordnung auf Gott, als dem letzten und ewigen Grund jeglicher Gewalt, dort die Proklamierung der Souveränität des Volkswillens als des beweglichsten und unzuverlässigsten Elementes, das wir in der sittlichen Welt kennen. Daher denn auch, wie Papst Leo XIII. sagt, die Staatsgesetze nur zu oft nicht die ,geschriebene Vernunft’, sondern einzig und allein die numerische Macht und das Übergewicht einer politischen Partei darstellen. Die bisherige Entwicklung hat keinen Zweifel darüber gelassen, daß man, um mit den Worten der gleichen höchsten geistlichen Autorität zu sprechen, die großen Prinzipien der Religion nicht über Bord werfen kann, ohne die Grundlagen der bürgerlichen Wohlfahrt zu erschüttern.’ Es tut not, daß man es heute mit aller Rücksichtslosigkeit ausspreche: Die absolute [226] Gewalt der Fürsten und aller derer, die sich in ihrem Namen als die Verkünder und Vollstrecker der absoluten Staatsgewalt betätigte, haben mit innerer Notwendigkeit auch in unserem Volke das Widerspiel dieser Autokratie in dem politischen Dogma von der Souveränität des Volkes heraus gefordert und großgezogen, und es ist tief schmerzlich, daß es einer solch ungeheuren Lehre, wie diese Katastrophe sie darstellt, bedurfte, um großen politisch tätigen christlichen und katholischen Kreisen in Deutschland die Augen zu öffnen über die Gedankenlosigkeit, mit der die christlichen Parteien des Reiches und der Einzelstaaten sich abgefunden hatten mit den vollendeten Tatsachen. Wenn man zurückdenkt an jene großen katholischen Tage, da ein Görres im ,Athanasius’ dem Leviathan der Staatsallmacht den Kampf mit allen Aufgeboten ansagte, als dann ein Mallinckrodt und Schorlemer in den Frühtagen des ,Kulturkampfes’ das christliche Gewissen mobil machten gegen den heidnischen Übermut der Advokaten des Erfolgs und sich nicht scheuten, den Idealisten des Irrtums sowohl den regierungstreuen wie den revolutionären, das im Recht verkörperte göttliche Gebot entgegen zuhalten, so wird man heute besser als je verstehen können, wie sehr die spätere Politik, die sich gouvernemental gebärdete, der großen Impulse verlustig ging und sich nur mehr in opportunistischer Alltagsgeschäftigkeit und Parteitaktik ohne großen strategischen Ideenaufmarsch: das Leben fristete. Indem wir hiermit aussprechen was unzählige durch Jahrzehnte empfanden und im stillen klagten, sind wir weit entfernt, die Verdienste dieses regierungsfähig gewordenen Zentrums zu verkennen die wir vielmehr als groß und unvergeßlich trotz alledem ansehen. Aber nachdem die Tore einer neuen Zeit sich weit geöffnet haben und unermeßliche, nie dagewesene Aufgaben des katholischen Volkes und seiner politischen Vertretungen harren, und nachdem jetzt mehr als je die Lage die große Gefahr mit sich bringt daß unsere Einheit zersplittert, indem wir, dem Vergangenen nachtrauernd, uns nicht schnell genug aus der angelebten Mentalität zu befreien wissen, ist nichts notwendiger als auf jenes alte Prinzip der Einheit und Einigung zurückzugehen, das in der grundsätzlichen Gegnerschaft gegen alle Staatsomnipotenz und ihre heidnische Gefolgschaft beruht. Wir müssen uns darüber klar werden, daß hier und jetzt nur eine im Grunde verkehrte Staats-, Sozial- und Wirtschaftsordnung die andere abzulösen im Begriffe steht, und daß wir nicht minder im Irrtum lebten, da wir uns der vergangenen anglichen, als wenn wir es jetzt der neuen gegenüber täten. Ein anderes allerdings ist es, die einmal bestehende Gewalt insofern anzuerkennen als man sich allen ihren sittlich und religiös erlaubten Anordnungen fügt und ihr im Interesse der öffentlichen Wohlfahrt treue Mitarbeit leistet ein anderes, die Prinzipien bejahen oder auch nur stillschweigend gelten lassen, aus denen sie ihre Existenz herleitet und mit der sie sie als unerschütterlich begründet. So wenig wie in der Religion und Moral gibt es in der Politik eine indifferente Theorie, und es bleibt somit für alle Zukunft nichts übrig, als daß wir von neuem und nach- [227] drücklicher als je beginnen, den Ideen einer integralen christlichen Politik wie der zu ihrem Rechte zu verhelfen. Diese christliche Politik kann sich unter jeder Staatsform betätigen, und wenn sich ihre Außerachtlassung schon unter den Monarchien so furchtbar rächte, daß diese heute nahezu alle dem Untergange geweiht sind, wieviel notwendiger, weil allein lebenverbürgend, wird sie erst in den demokratischen und republikanischen Gemeinwesen sein. Denn es ist eine unveräußerliche Wahrheit, die einer der ersten Fürsprecher der Demokratie in Europa in dem Worte ausdrückt: ,Der Gegensatz der Religion und der Demokratie ist der Untergang der letzteren; die bedrohte Freiheit rettet nur die Religion, um das religiöse Leben auch in seiner organisierten Form der Kirche nicht nur in den Gemütern, sondern auch in seinen äußeren Institutionen aufrechtzuerhalten, wird aber künftig nichts so notwendig sein als die innere und äußere Geschlossenheit der Katholiken in ihrem öffentlichen Auftreten. Diese zu bewahren, müssen nun alle Kräfte aufgeboten werden. Wir dürfen in Deutschland unter den Katholiken nicht Zustände bekommen wie vor dem Kriege, noch folche, wie sie in den romanischen Ländern alle Hoffnungen auf einen endgültigen Erfolg der guten Sache in ferne Zeiten verschieben, wo nicht gar für immer zunichte machen, und diese Einigung muß gleich vom ersten Augenblick an in die Erscheinung treten. Jetzt, wo im Hinblick auf die durchaus mit dem Christentum unvereinbare falsche Theorie der Souveränität es offenbar macht, wie die Staatswesen von gestern und heute sich gleichen trotz des scheinbaren Gegensatzes zwischen dem äußerlich betonten Gottesgnadentum und dem nunmehr verwirklichten Volksgnadentum; denn angesichts der praktischen Manifestationen der alten Staaten während des Krieges besteht kein Zweifel mehr, daß auch, in ihnen das christliche nur äußerlich war, da es zu ihrem machtstaatlichen Grundprinzip in unauslöslichem Widerspruch stand.
Die Religion wieder in ihre Rechte im öffentlichen Leben einzusetzen, ist somit eine unabsehbare folgenreiche und wichtige Angelegenheit. Aber es wäre wenig geleistet, diese Rechte bloß proklamiert und gleichsam institutionell anerkannt zu sehen, um ihre Wirksamkeit ihr Staate zu begründen, muß man unten, nicht oben anfangen. Das ist ja das Verhängnis aller modernen Verfassungen, daß sie, von Abstraktionen ausgehend, das Glück den Menschen im Großen bringen wollen, bevor die Menschen verstehen, es durch eine richtige Verfassung schon im kleinsten Gemeinwesen zu verwirklichen. Das Urbild aller Staatlichkeit ist und bleibt die Familie. In ihr empfangen wir die früheste Schulung für alles das, was wir im öffentlichen Leben, als Kraft des Zusammenlebens, der Friedensbewahrung, der Verständigung und Hilfsbereitschaft, des Herrschens und Dienens, der Freiheit und der selbstgewollten Ein- und Unterordnung brauchen und als unentbehrlich für die allgemeine Wohlfahrt ansehen. Ein Staatsmann, der es nicht vermöchte, in seinem eigenen Hause Ordnung und Eintracht durch Selbstbeherrschung, Liebe, Gerechtigkeit und die Kunst, der Menschen behandlung zu wahren, darf uns nie Vertrauen einflößen für eine Tätigkeit [228] im großen. So ist letzten Endes aller Streit um Verfassungen nur das ins Völkerleben projizierte Bild der Ordnung des Zwiespaltes menschlicher Rechte und Pflichten schon im menschlichen Herzen. Hier aber ist es, wo die Religion ihr Werk beginnen muß, soll sie zugleich im Gesellschaftsleben wieder zur wahren Schätzung gelangen. Diese so einfache und doch so große Wahrheit hat keiner eindringlicher verkündigt als Adam Müller, der Vorkämpfer einer politischen Restauration im Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts, dem er sie als reifes Vermächtnis politischer Weisheit hinterließ. Er erklärt mit Recht alle politischen Diskussionen über die allgemeine Staatsform als ein leeres Spiel und als eitlen Luxus hoffärtiger Vernunft im Vergleich zu dem Ernst der höheren Verhandlung über die Formlosigkeit, in welche das häusliche Leben und selbst der einzelne verfallen sei, weil man das organisierende Prinzip der Religion ausgeschaltet hat. Und doch kann die Religion allein, wie Hermann Plah es ausdrückt, das ,anthropozentrische Chaos in den theozentrischen Kosmos' verwandeln. Erst wenn diese Erkenntnis allgemein zu werden beginnt, dürfen wir Hoffnung schöpfen, in mitten der Wirbel dieser Zeit auch wieder jene terra firma zu finden, auf der sich allein das Glück der Völker und Staaten begründen läßt. Dann wird wahr werden die Verkündigung, mit der Adam Müller seine Betrachtung über den wahren Staat abschließt und womit auch wir hier schließen wollen, denn, wer in auch vor nahezu hundert Jahren gesprochen, gelten die folgenden Worte für unsere Zeit um so viel mehr, als wir ihrer Verwirklichung nähergerückt sind und die Leiden und Erfahrungen dieses Weltkrieges und die bittere Frucht, die er uns getragen, uns für ihr Verständnis reifer gemacht haben:
,Wenn alle Wunden dieses Jahrhunderts verblutet und alle Leidenschaften, welche die Urteile verwirren, zur Ruhe gebracht sein werden, dann wird die spätere Nachwelt in den krampfhaften Bewegungen dieser Zeit nur das Erwachen der Religion wahrnehmen: sie wird das dumpfe Geschrei nach Verfassungen, welches alle ruhige politische Untersuchung übertäubt, verstehen; erkennen wird sie, daß es allerdings eine Konstitution, eine Verfassung gegolten hat, ein Hinaustreten zu jener ersten und einzigen politischen Verfassung, welche auf der Erde bestanden hat, der christlichen nämlich; ein dringendes, unwiderstehliches Verlangen nach jenem natürlichen, aber von einem gehorsamen Herzen für das unmittelbare Werk Gottes anerkannten Stande oder Staate der Menschheit, welchen die eitle Vernunft, eben weil sie überhaupt ihrer innersten Natur nach zu keiner Anerkennung irgend einer Verfassung gelangen kann, niemals erschwingen wird.’
Citation: Karl Muth, “Zur Zeitenwende,” Hochland 16:1:3 (Dez. 1918), S. 225
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Zuber, Brigitte, “Im Netz bayerischer Eliten” [In the Network of Bavarian Elites], in D. Schmidt, M. Sturm & M. Livi, eds., Wegbereiter des Nationalsozialismus [Pavers of the Way for Nazism] (Essen: Klartext, 2015)
Zuccotti, Susan, Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2000)
Papal Encyclicals and Documents:
Acerbi Animi, Sept. 29, 1932 (On Persecution of the Church in Mexico)
Apostolic Constitution Officiorum, Jan. 25, 1897
Divini Redemptoris, March 19, 1937 (On Atheistic Communism)
Humani Generis Redemptionem, June 15, 1917 (On Preaching the Word of God)
Humanum Genus, April 20, 1884 (On Freemasonry)
Mit Brennender Sorge, March 14, 1937 (On the Church and the German Reich)
Non Abbiamo Bisogno, June 29, 1931 (On Catholic Action in Italy)
Pascendi Domenici Gregis, Sept. 8, 1907 (On the Doctrines of the Modernists)
Quadragesimo Anno, May 15, 1931 (On Reconstruction of the Social Order)
Quas Primas, Dec. 11, 1925 (On the Feast of Christ the King)
Summi Pontificatus, Oct. 20, 1939 (Supreme Pontificate)
Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio, Dec. 23, 1922 (On the Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ)
Notes to Timeline
Thread 1: The Jewish-Communist myth as rationale for the Holocaust and Germany’s 1941 invasion of Soviet Russia is well described by Prof. Jeffrey Herf, The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda During World War II and the Holocaust (Cambridge: Belknap, Harvard Univ. Press, 2006). The myth enabled the Nazi regime to justify genocide and aggressive war as acts of German self-defense. For example, Hitler’s main henchman in carrying out the Holocaust, Heinrich Himmler, considered himself morally upright while mass murdering Jews in “self-defense,” as appears in Himmler’s private correspondence recently brought to light in the documentary Der Anständiger (English title: The Decent One)(2014).
Thread 3: Historians have assumed that the combination of nearly universal pre-existing antisemitism in Bavaria, and the prominent involvement of Jews in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Munich revolutions of November 1918 and April 1919 fully explain the widespread acceptance of the Jewish-Communist conspiracy theory in Munich and its centrality to Nazi ideology. E.g., Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris (London: Allen Lane, 1998), pp. 124-25 (Hitler, in his “ferocious attacks on the Jews” beginning in the second half of 1919, was “doing no more than reflect sentiments which were widespread at the time among the people of Munich”); Robert Ventresca, Soldier of Christ: The Life of Pope Pius XII (Cambridge: Belknap, Harvard Univ. Press, 2013), pp. 54-55 (because of Munich’s experience with Jewish radical political figures after World War One, “it was a logical step to view Bolsheviks and Jews as indistinguishable.”); Paul Hanebrink, A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism (Cambridge: Belknap, Harvard Univ. Press, 2018), p.13 (Bavaria’s Catholics “shared the belief that Bolshevism was caused or led by Jews.”)
Thread 8: It has long been known that some passages in the Protocols were plagiarized from Maurice Joly, Le Dialogue aux enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu (1864), and that some of the plot was taken from the chapter “At the Jewish Cemetery in Prague” in Herrmann Goedsche’s Biarritz (1868). E.g., Cohn (1996); Katz (1997). But the role of French scandal author Gabriel Jogand-Pagès, a/k/a Leo Taxil, in popularizing the Jewish-Masonic myth in the 1890s under the pseudonym “Docteur Bataille,” has long escaped historians, being covered instead by a novelist, Umberto Eco, in The Prague Cemetery (2011). The Protocols appeared in the decade after Pagès-Bataille’s work, with pervasive references to “the Jews” controlling the Masonic movement in a worldwide Jewish-Masonic conspiracy to destroy and dominate Western Civilization.
Vatican supervision of Civiltà Cattolica: Consistently from its formation in 1850 to the present, as a semi-monthly journal published by a select community of Jesuit priests, Civiltà Cattolica has been closely supervised by the Vatican in a formal process described by a long-time member of that community, DeRosa (1999): All material written for the journal is submitted in advance to the Vatican Secretariat of State; and the head of the community meets with the Secretary of State or the Pope to receive instructions giving approval, disapproval, or instructions for changes, prior to publication. According to DeRosa, the longstanding practice of the Vatican has been to review the content of Civiltà Cattolica for consistency with Catholic doctrine, with Vatican policy in regard to international affairs, and with prudential judgment as to opportuneness.